Miss Kobayashi- Now and Then
by William Price
Summary: Set several years after the events of the anime, Toru must live in a world without Miss Kobayashi.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The smell of incense is strong today. I can see the tears of friends and family visiting their loved

ones. It's been 10 years since my mother's accident. Ever since that accident I would always

come here to visit my mother.

"The dead are never really gone".

That's what my grandmother told me. In my childhood years, I would speak to my mother's grave. Every time I visited I would hope that my mother would respond. Every visit I would be disappointed. Even though she never responds, I speak to her. My neighbors think it's weird. I don't mind their stares or their muttered remarks meant to suppress whatever insults they would whisper my way.

"It's going to be my first year in high school, mom."

No response.

"I'll visit you when class is over."

I put my bag over my shoulders and hurried to school. The sun rises over the clouds again. Sleepy and tired people my age step out of their homes and walk in pairs of twos, threes, or fours. I try my best to avoid eye-contact. It's been difficult making friends. It's not worth the trouble.

I won't bore you with the details. It's like any other school. Same groups. Same teachers. Same assignments. Luckily, I'm not a terrible student. I am good at studying.

"You must get it from your mom's side".

That's what my grandmother would always say. She's not wrong; My mother was a very busy woman. She worked long hours and came back tired. She would often get drunk, but she never hurt me like the stereotypical drunkard people see on TV.

I walked back to my mother's grave. I fixed my project today. I opened my backpack and reached inside. It is a drone with a camera attached. I managed to program the drone to follow me. It was a very longer and painful process.

I found my mother's grave. She sat there like before. However, I saw a stranger standing in front of her. She is no neighbor of mine. It's a blonde woman in a blue jacket.

"Are you a friend?" I asked.

She stared at me. Her eyes carried an immense hatred directed at me as if I hurt her.

She turned her head away and apologized.

"Yes...We were very close."

She opens her umbrella and left me behind.

 _Plop…Plop…Plop…._

I noticed that it was about to rain and I forgot my umbrella.

My feet carried me all the way home as fast as my body could run.

Today is the second day of high school. I walked to school like always when I notice a commotion going on at the front gates. Bystanders watched nervously. Three boys were picking on a girl. She struggled to get her books back.

"What are you doing here, freak?!"

"Yeah," another boy chimed in, "We told you to get out. We don't want you here."

She holds back her tears. I could see she had horns on head. Some sort of odd cosplay thing.

It's strange for someone her age to be cosplaying, but it didn't give them the right to bully her.

I clenched my fist and swung at the bullies. The fight went by quickly. When it was over, I was on the floor with a bloody nose.

"You didn't have to do that," she held out her hand and helped me up.

"I had to do something. No one else was willing to help you."

"Thanks…," she plays with her fingers, "By the way…my name is Kotori."

"My name is Shiro."

"Thank you…Shiro."

The teachers arrived. They found the boys, Kotori and me. They lectured us in the office and sent us home early. My heart sank. This was going to be very difficult to explain to my grandma.

Two hours later I was in my room and grandma was talking to me.

"Now, Shiro. You shouldn't get into fights. You should rely on your teachers. It would make your mother sad if you became a delinquent".

I nodded and gave her the sincerest apology I could.

The next morning, I went to see my mother. The strange woman is standing in front of her grave again. I sat on the floor next to my mother. She took a glance at me and my mother's grave.

"You're here again. Why?"

"I visit my mother every day."

"…I see", she let out a sigh. "I should go, then."

"Wait," I stood up.

There was a silence between us.

"Could you…tell me how you know my mother?"

"…Mr. Kobayashi. It's complicated. If you really want to know...we're family."

"Does that mean you're my aunt? I never met you though…"

"It was when you were a baby. I'm sorry. I should go."

"Wait-"

Before I could say anything she was gone and I was alone again.


	2. Chapter 2

**I want to fly (Like a dragon)**

The cafeteria is full of chatter and laughing. I am not having lunch there. The hallways are full of friends and couples. I am not eating here either. I finally find a peaceful place to eat on the roof. The school rooftop has a beautiful view of azure skies dotted with clouds.

"Excuse me."

I turn to see who is interrupting my lunch. It's Katori.

"Do you mind if I…sit with you?"

"I guess not."

She smiles and sits next to me.

"Thank you so much for last time," she gobbled down her rice and curry.

Though she didn't say much, I could tell she was more than just grateful. She sees me as a good friend, if not, her only friend. I look at the clouds while I quietly eat from my bento box.

"The sky is beautiful, isn't it?"

I nod.

"Shiro. Have you ever dreamt of flying in the sky?"

"I do."

The school bell rang. I clean up my things and make my way to the stairway.

"Shiro. Could I ask you something before you go?"

"Ask."

"Could we maybe walk home together? This assignment I have looks really hard and I heard from your classmates that you're a prodigy."

"Meet me at the gates when school is over."

Her face is elated. She wrapped her arms around and gave me a big squeeze.

Like I promised. I met her at the gates.

"Thank you for helping me!"

"It's nothing."

I brought her to my front door steps.

 _Knock knock_

"Come in," my grandmother swung the door open".

She showed me the assignment she was stuck on. She watched me like a hawk as I explained to her how to solve the problems for her assignment. An hour barely passed, despite this, she fell asleep.

I gently closed the door to my bedroom.

"Is your friend already asleep? I don't remember school being THAT boring when I was her age."

"It can't be helped. I'll just wait for her to wake up."

"Don't worry. I'll watch her."

I opened the door to the front porch.

The next ten minutes I put my drone to work. It hovers for five minutes before running out of batteries.

"Hmm…," I look at the chip's coding, checked the parts.

"Ahh…The propellers need to be replaced."

"Wow. You really are a genius," Katori sits and looks at my drone.

"Thanks…It's from my mother."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

Silence. I force myself to speak, "It… It was a long time ago. She wanted to make a flying machine."

She nods then focuses her eyes somewhere else. She tries not to look at me directly. Her shoulders tense up.

"Shiro. Remember when those bullies picked on me?"

"Yes. The horns are a strange form of cosplay. It makes you stick out. Still…I wonder why they were so hostile to you. Your sense of fashion isn't that bad."

Katori chuckles, but shake her head.

"No. That's not why. Haven't you heard the rumors?"

"What rumors?" I scratch my head in confusion.

"I'm not interested in gossip. Most of its false information spread by petty students."

"The students think I'm a dragon."

"Dragon?" I smirk, "People have such wild imaginations."

"It's true," Katori said without a hint of sarcasm.

I look at her baffled, but nod my head.

"Can you prove it?"

"Yes. But not here."

She held my hand and whisked me away. I wanted to tell her to let go. I wanted to say she was crazy. Dragons don't exist. They're a myth. Yet…Why do I believe her? I had this strange feeling that everything she is telling me is the truth.

We were at the front of the school.

"I'll show you on the roof."

"Katori…We can't get to the roof. The doors are locked."

"We don't need to. Wait," she took a deep breath.

"It's late. Maybe we should-

She shape-shifted into a huge creature with golden skin and two wide wings each the length of a football field.

I stood dumb-founded. My mind raced for a logical explanation. I pinched myself. I close my eyes.

"Do you believe me now?"

I nod.

"She really is a beast," someone scoffed.

Three men in black jackets approached the two of us. They carry baseball bats on their shoulders.

"The freak is a dragon. Let's teach her a lesson."

"Are you three stupid?!" I pointed at them, "You can't hurt her."

"Why not?"

"Even if you wanted to… you wouldn't be able to scratch her."

"Want to see us try?" the leader hissed while rattling his bat.

"No. I don't want to see three corpses on the floor. Go home before she gets violent."

Katori pulled me aside.

"It's okay, Shiro," she changed back into her human form and cast a spell on the three,

"I want you three to go home. When you come back to school, apologize to the principal and accept whatever punishment he gives you."  
Their eyes flashed green. Without a single complaint, they disappeared into the night.

"Katori," a stern voice called. It was the same woman who visited my mother's grave.

"Did you reveal your identity to him?"

"Mom. I can expla-" She interrupts her, "Do you have any idea the danger we could be in? Do you know what will happen if _they_ find us?"

Katori nods.

The woman glares at me, "If you tell anyone what happened here I will make sure you regret it."

I shake my head, "No one would believe me. Still…You never told me who you are. If you're my aunt…Why didn't you take me in?"

"Shiro-"

Katori gave me a mortified expression as if I said something I would regret for the rest of my life. I don't care. This woman knew my mom. Yet never took me in. My grandmother this whole time raised me herself while having to work as a store owner. She abandoned me. Now she is threatening me. Why? Why is she treating me like a stranger? What did I ever do to her?

The thought really pisses me off.

"I will tell you the truth. I used to live with your mother a long time ago. We were very close, but we parted ways."

"…Was it something mom said? Is that why you hate me?"

"No…It was for other reasons…I- I don't hate you. You're a child. And whenever I see you…I'm reminded of miss Kobayashi. Just looking at you fills me with grief."

"I see…I'm sorry. I won't tell anyone what happened. I promise."

I turned around and walked home. I wanted to say something to Kotori, but it was clear that her mother…Tohru, wanted nothing to do with me.

I arrived at the front door of my home.

 _Knock knock._

There was no response.

"Grandma?"

I knocked again…this time much louder.

 _Knock Knock_  
"Grandma!?" I swung open the door.

Everything went by so fast. I was holding her frail body in my hands. I cried. A lot. The ambulance didn't make it to my home on time. The ER team wrapped a blanket around me.

They were talking to themselves.

"What do you mean he doesn't have any other family members? What am I supposed to do with him?"

With no living family members left that would make me an orphan. With no home or anyone to turn to. I could live in a foster family. I would be able to graduate and find work like anyone else.

I didn't want to go. Tohru. Katori. They know my mother. I had so many questions to ask them.

I wondered if they would take me in. I suppose I had no other choice. The ambulance drivers and officers were busy with my grandmother. Now is my chance. I snuck past them and as soon as I was out of sight I ran. Where would two dragons live? Somewhere quiet and empty. Tohru said that she was very close to my mother. I had a feeling that she also meant that literally. The one place she could live in peace was…My mother's apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

A new family? (Tohru would make a good mother, I guess)

I cough and gasp for breath.

"Hurry the hell up," I swear to myself.

I still remember the way to my mother's apartment at least. The one that she lived…before I was born. She moved shortly after my birth. The memories of me and my mother in that apartment are hazy at best.

I turn the corner and stop to catch my breath.

"H…Hah…Here it is."

I can see the four-story apartment across the street. In my memories, the apartment I remember the apartment being surrounded by trees. As a home it was a perfect, quiet island in the middle of a busy city. That was a long time ago though. The apartment has seen better days. The paint is already falling apart and the windows are covered in wooden boards. I climbed the stairs. My mother's apartment is the center room. I arrive on the top floor. My fist knocks on the second door as hard as I can.

"Katori…Tohru…Are you here?!"

No response. I knock a second time, but instead of my fist hitting the door it phases through it.

I force myself through the door. Inside is a clean and tidy room. The laundry lay on the couch. The kitchen is clean. Each plate is shining bright like a star.

"Shiro…" Katori ran into the living room.

"How did you find us?" Tohru appears behind me. She grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me against the wall.

"I'm sorry for barging in. I needed to find you…It's urgent."

Katori shields me from Tohru. Her arms extend outward, "You can't hurt him."

"It doesn't matter. We need to move."

"Wait…" I look at Katori. "Please take me with you…"

Tohru looks at me with a snide expression, "Yeah? Why should I?"

"My grandmother is dead. I have no one else."

Her smile fades, "I'm sorry to hear that. But we can't let humans discover our location."

"I won't tell anyone. Please," I get on my knees and bow, "Please if you care for my mom that much won't you take me in?"

"Mr. Kobayashi. It's not that simple."

"Nothing ever is," I nod, "It doesn't matter though. You must be like sisters. Would you allow the son of your sister be taken away before you could get to know him? You know my mother more than anyone else does. You of all people would understand a Kobayashi."

Tohru struggles but manages to smile. She puts on a wide grin.

"I will…take you in."

Kotori breathes a sigh of relief, "Mother…"

 _Tap, tap, tap._

We can hear footsteps from the outside.

"It must be the guys from before," I whisper.

Kotori readies her claws.

"We can't hurt them," I stand up.

"Shiro!" she calls to me to get back down.

"I can deal with them," I sneak outside and take cover behind the rails.

I can see from below four men in armor.

"They're knights," Tohru explains. She holds her breath.

"I have a better idea."

I pull out my drone and have it hover over their heads. I press a button on my controller.

 _Beep_

A loud screech plays from the drone's speakers.

"Dragon!"

"Where?!"

I set the drone to auto-pilot and direct its course far away from the apartment.

"They're gone," I speak in my normal, loud voice.

"You really are miss Kobayashi's child," Tohru compliments while watching in awe.

"It's nothing. The drone is a gift she gave me."

"Drone?" she scratches her head.

"It's like…a flying machine."

"Oh! So, does that mean you know how to fly?"

"Not exactly…"

Tohru pats me on the head, "Excellent job… Mr. Kobayashi.

I look away. My face felt like it was going to melt. I'm blushing. Something I've never done before.

"It's nothing…I'm only helping someone in need."

"Ah, so you inherited Kobayashi's compassion?"

"No…It's not like- Never mind. I'm…Hyah," I yawn, "I'm tired.

I pass out as I say that. I don't remember for how long, but I eventually woke up.

I lay in a warm bed. My clothes were gone and replaced with pajamas.

"You're already awake?" I see Katori folding my clothes.

"Hey…You shouldn't be handling my clothes like that."

"Hmm? Why not?"

"It's strange. What if you had to do my underwear?"

She blushes. Her hands wrap around her face and she shakes her head furiously, "No, No, No. I'm not allowed to. That's for mother."

"Oh. I guess that's okay. Still…School is today. What if the knights come back?"

"Then we will have to deal with them. For now, they don't know where we are."

"Wouldn't they just search the neighborhood?"

Katori taps me on the forehead, "Don't worry so much. Mother cast a perception block around the block. They will have to go through a maze that changes every day."

I think too much? I worry too much? I guess she's right. Still…Those men don't look like the type to quit. I guess I have no other choice but to trust them.

"It's breakfast time…Let's eat," she grabbed my hand and brought me to the kitchen.

The plates were already prepared. It looked like some sort of huge tail. The steam from the meat cover my glasses. I can smell pepper, salt (and some exotic spices I didn't know the name of) tickle my nose. I cut a small portion of the meat and chew on it.

"Tohru. It tastes good. What is this made from?"

"My tail," she laughs.

"Hahah…But seriously though. What is it made from?"

She gives me a mischievous look.

"Oh…You weren't joking," I look at the place and back at her.

My stomach rumbles, "It can't be helped," I shrug and devour the entire tail.

"Don't worry. I always grow it back," a tail slipped out from underneath her clothes.

 _Ring Ring Rin-_

Kotori smashes the snooze button for the alarm clock. It shatters into several pieces.

"Katori! That is the sixth alarm clock you broke!"

"I'm sorry…"

"I'll have to replace it again," she opened the cupboard. A hundred alarm clocks lined the inside of the cupboard, "Anyway…You two need to go to school."

"Of course," I find my things and head toward the door, "Oh and Tohru. Thank you so much…It means a lot to me…What you did for me."

She turns around so that her backside is facing me. She shakes, "I-It's no problem at all!"

As I open the door and leave, I hear Tohru mutter, "That boy is just as adorable as his mother…." 

I took a seat in my classroom next to the window.

The classroom teacher knocks on the wall to get their attention, "Today we have a new student. Please introduce yourself."

Kotori walks into the class and bows, "Hi. My name is Kotori. It's a pleasure meeting you."

She sits right next to me, "Shiro!"  
Everyone in the class mutters and whispers to each other. They give me curious looks.

I sigh. It would have been better if they didn't notice me. Now I'm the talk of the school.

Kotori flips open her book and reads the material while the teacher lectures. I breathe deep and focus on the teacher's presentation.

 _Ring Ring Ring_

I leaned in my chair while Kotori worked on her assignment. A random student drops a letter on top of my desk.

"Sorry," he said, "Some random people told me to give this to you."

Kotori looks at me with a worried expression. We both nod. The letter came from the knights.

"The assignment can wait."

In the contents of the letter they gave us directions to the countryside far away from the city. The only we could reach that place was by flying. Katori shapeshifts into a dragon.

"Please. Ride on my back."

"Are you sure this is safe?" I wrestle my way to the top of her back.

"Don't look down," she stretches out her wings.

I close my eyes. A gust of wind whips through my clothes.

"Open your eyes."

I do as I'm told. When I open my eye-lids I see the blue sky. Kotori glides through the clouds. The sun flashed in my eyes.

"Are you okay?" Kotori takes a glance at me.

I tightened my grip on her, "Barrel roll. Now".

"…Shiro are you sure?"

"Go!"

She does a spiral spin. My head spins. My eyes try to adjust to the sudden movement.

The ground and the sky blend together as we spin out of control.

"Are you okay?"

"Bleegh," I puke my breakfast to the side, "You're too damn fast..."

"Hmm? What was that?"

"You're too damn fast!" I repeated louder.

"Says the person who asked to do a barrel roll."

We land at the meeting place. A green meadow with rolling hills. Two men in armor approach us.

"You came. As expected."

"Who are you people?"

They place their hand on their sword, "We're knights. Dedicated to protecting humans."

"Those boys from before. Are they yours?"

They nod, "Yes. They're not knights. Yet."

"We didn't harm them. So you have no reason to hurt her."

The knight paces back and forth. My words reached his thick skull somehow.

"True. But we can't let anymore dragons come to our world."

I turn to Katori.

"It's a long story, Shiro. Long story short: We don't get along. My mother wasn't born here."

I hold on to my controller, "These dragons took me in as one of their own. They won't hurt anyone unless provoked."

 _Swiishh_

The two knights draw their swords.  
Kotori holds her breath. The smoke and fire is dripping from her mouth.

My drone hovers over them, "No one has to die."

The two men charge at me. Kotori blocks them with her giant claw. They swing and bash at Kotori. "Hurgh!" "Hyah!"

"That tickles," she knocks both off their feet with her tail.

"Argh.." a knight tries to get back on his feet. My drone flies over and sprays pepper into his eyes. "Gyahh!" He falls back down.

"Pepper spray?" Kotori stares at me. She bit her lips. She is about to burst out laughing.

"…I don't really use it as a weapon."

"Maybe you should use their sword?"

I take their sword, "I guess I could practice with this," I perform a few wide swings.

Kotori pokes both the knights.

"Argh. I can't feel my legs…," they roll around in the grass and mud.

Her eyes flash, "Don't bother us again, okay? Tell your boss we fled. I promise I won't cause problems if you don't bother us."

The knights under her spell nod, "That sounds fair. We agree."

Kotori signals for me to get on her back.

I jump on without hesitation. The sun is already setting.

"Kotori….Let's go slower this time."

"Haha. Sure," she takes off into the sky.


	4. Chapter 4

Family Matters(Even if they're not the same species)

Tohru is sitting beside Kobayashi's grave. The smell of incense is very strong. Too much incense.

The sticks for lighting incense are on the floor and overflowing the small pot.

"Tohru...Isn't this overkill?"

She taps me on the head, "Shh, I need to speak with Kobayashi…" she pauses, thinking about what she will say. "Your son is really smart. Most likely from your side of the family. Takiya isn't nearly as bright as you"

I imagine my mother staring blankly at Tohru right now for insulting my father. The same face she would make when I get caught in the act of eating one too many sweets…Or that one time I tried her beer.

"I will try my best to take care of him. Don't worry, Kobayashi-kun," she finishes her speech and cleans the place up.

Tohru's talk about my father made me realize something. I remember my mother in my life, but I can't remember a thing about my father. She told me that he vanished. Though…She never mentioned anything about Tohru, either.

"Tohru…"

"Hmm? What is Shiro?"

"Do you know what happened to my father?"

Dead silence.

"I don't remember what happened. We parted ways before she gave birth to you, "she hesitates, but knells next to me, "Did your mother say anything about him?"

I shake my head. I couldn't remember. I only remember his absence from my life.

"I-I see…," her eyes trail for a while, "Right. I have work to do! I need to go, Shiro. Please take care of Kotori for me," she pats me on the head and runs off.

I rub my head. I'm a first year in high school, but she still treats me like a child. How frustrating.

"You take care of me? Pfft," she rolls on the floor laughing hysterically.

I sigh, "It's not _that_ funny, you know," I wiggled my finger and imitate Tohru's voice, "You two should really avoid fighting. If the knights see you again, you run, okay?"

Kotori taps me on the head, "She doesn't speak like that. Besides. I put those knights under my spell."

"What if we run into knights who can't be put under your spell?"

Kotori thinks about it, but scoffs, "The odds are a thousand to one."

"You mean a _million_ to one."

Kotori shrugs, "You really worry too much. You almost sound like mom."

"Hey…I don't look that old," I look at myself, "Do I?"

Katori shrugs.

I type on my tablet and browse the web.

Katori leans over my shoulder.

"Yes?" I stop typing.

"What's this thing?"

"A tablet."

Katori pokes the screen, "Is this a magic tome?"

"It's not a to-…Actually it works like one. You can search for information with it," I give her the tablet.

She taps everywhere on the screen and scroll through several pages.

"I'm looking for information on a…Takiya Kobayashi."

She finds an address, "Takiya Systems. Located 30 minutes from here. Alright! Let's go!"

She grabs my hand. "Wait!" I shout while struggling to free my hand from her grip,

"What about the house? If Tohru comes back-"

Two clouds of smoke explode. When the smoke clears duplicates of us stand in front of us.

"Take care of the place while we're gone!" she waves while dragging me to the city.

The building "Takiya Systems" wasn't hard to find. Being one of the tallest buildings in the city, it obviously stood out from the regular apartments and convenience stores.

Once we entered the front doors we could see a bald man with sideburns sitting at the front desk.

He gives a nasty look, "Who the he-"

Before he could finish his sentence a person in a very expensive look suit gave him the death stare. The secretary immediately changes his tone and forces a fake smile.

The smile is horribly distorted. His lips looked like some sort of empty, bottomless blackhole.

"… Welcome. May I help you?" he tugged on his tie as if he was choking.

"We're here to see Takiya," I finally manage to say.

The man in the suit approaches me, "Yes. That's me," he nods and gives me a tight handshake.

"Takiya, do you remember me? I'm Kobayashi's son."

He steps back for a second. What I told him may have overwhelm his mind.

He gives a pat on the shoulders, "Shiro. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages. Please, come inside my office."

He directs into his office. Books were on the floor. Mountains of paperwork were scattered across the desk. His passport even stuck to the window(somehow).

"What?! This is your office? It looks like a hikkikimori slept here!"

Takiya scratches the back of the head, "Hahaha…Yeah it's pretty messy. You should see what my _actual_ room looks like."

"No thanks," I stare blankly at the mess.

Takiya clears his throat, "You probably know this already, but I was never there for you. I'm really sorry."

"Takiya- …Dad, why did you leave mom?"

"I wanted to be there for you. But I must take care of the company, too. I married your mother and we gave birth to you. Working for the company and having to raise you at the same time was too much for me."

 _Tick tock tick tock_

My heart felt heavy. I can hear It beating.

"Is that why you left her?"  
He nods. I could see in his eyes small drops of tears.

"Mom is dead, dad. Grandma had to take care of me. Where were you then?"

"Son. Please. I can't quit my job. It's difficult for most couples to raise a kid. A lot of them refuse to have children. I gave grandma checks so she could afford to give you warm meals and a roof under her head."

I slam the desk and point at him, "I needed more than just food and a home, Takiya! I needed someone to be by my side," I breath heavily. Please don't cry in front of them. Katori opens her mouth, but no words come out. She's at a loss for words.

"I did want to take you in. I have butlers who can attend to your needs. I do come home every now and then. You wouldn't be alone. Though…When I heard grandma died. I couldn't find you. I was worried, Shiro. Worried you ran away."

I shake my head. Drops of water dripped from my ears. I sniff my nose, "No. I didn't run. I'm staying with Tohru."

His eyes change from concern to anger, "Shiro! Tohru is dangerous. You can't stay with her."

I get out of my chair, "I don't want to hear another word from you. Goodbye," I swing open the door and walk out. Behind me, I hear Takiya's distant voice shout, "She's a dragon, Shiro! A dragon can't be a mother!"

Me and Kotori sit outside in the rain for a few hours. We don't speak, but we don't have to. I scoot closer to her.

 _Splash drip splash_

The clouds blot out the son like closing curtains. The rain tapped roughly on the surface. Several drops of rain water create ripples on the asphalt.

"Shiro," Tohru holds up her umbrella. She tries her best to smile, "You went to find Takiya, didn't you?"

I nod.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know he abandoned you. You are already hurting from losing mom. If I told you what happened to dad-"

I shake my head, "It doesn't matter anymore."

Tohru wraps her fingers around me and Katori. She pulls the two of us closer to her chest.

For the first time since the accident long ago, I wept.


	5. Chapter 5

Recovering from Loss (With the help of Tohru)

Today I got a cold. Probably from being in the cold for so long. Well…The cold itself didn't give me the cold. That would be a virus that didn't show itself until I went home. My books and backpack rest in the corner. I toss and turn in bed for a few hours before getting up.

Kotori is licking my clothes.

"H-Hey, what are you doing with my clothes?"

"Cleaning them," she says then goes back to licking like some sort of cat.

"Hmm. So, dragon tongues kill bacteria?"

"Yes. It's easier and faster than using a washing machine."

I shake my head at her, "It's inappropriate for a woman to be licking a man's clothes."

"I-I'm only cleaning them, idiot. It's not like I actually like it or anything."

I stretch my arms and crawl out of bed.

"Shiro."

"Yes, Kotori?"

"If anything bothers you. You can always tell me. I'm your sister, technically."

I put my clothes on like always and flip through my books.

"Let's hurry. I need to help you through this assignment before next morning."

"It's boring though," she groans.

"I know. But if you fail Tohru will get mad. The last person you want to anger is Tohru."

"Fine. If we have to."

Kotori is a slow learner. She managed to stay awake this time at least. She kept her eyes wide and open while writing down notes. It only took us an hour to finish the assignment. When it was over she leans on her chair, "What now, Shiro?"

I pull out my laptop and begin typing. She leans against my shoulder.

"It's a little something my mother worked on," I point to a diagram of a flying machine.

"It looks huge. Like those machines that carry humans across the sky. I think they were called airplanes."

Strange. Shouldn't she be aware what most of these human objects were? She looks like she is around the same age as me. Though…She could be much older than her looks suggest.

"Didn't Tohru explain to you how the human world works?"

"A little bit. But…," she pauses. She looks at me, conflicted.

"You mentioned I can tell you anything. So, it won't hurt if you were honest with me, too."

"Right. Tohru…Used to live with other dragons."

I'm not surprised there are other dragons. However, where are they? Tohru must have a family of her own. One that must be way bigger than mine's (Especially true for dragon's. Creatures that can live longer than human's).

"We're not allowed to venture far from the city."

"That's ridiculous. Dragons should be able to go wherever they want."

She holds my hand, "Yes. It is. But that's what we were told by the other dragons. You see we are forced to live here as punishment."

"Punishment? What happened, Kotori?" I lean closer to her.

She taps me on the forehead, "Too close, Shiro."

"Ow…," I rub my forehead.

"It's complicated. Mother would know. But she doesn't talk about why," she shrugs and forces a painful smile, "It can't be helped. It was a long time ago. I'm happy where I am anyway. It's nice and peaceful here. Anyway, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Like that she left my room. With nothing else to do I fall back in bed. I stare at the ceiling. The reflection of the moon makes my room glow a cool, blue aura. Despite her cheerfulness, I can hear her pain. The way she spoke did not resemble someone moving on and felt more like someone who is in pain and trying to forget.

I contemplated asking Tohru. No. That would be a bad idea. It would only bring back bad memories. I want to know, I want to help these two. I want to help my family. How do I even go about doing that? The morning sun lights my room with a colorful palette of tinted orange.

"Oh…It's morning already," I yawn.

The classroom is quiet. When the teacher comes in he greets us with a lukewarm smile, "Good morning. This week we're having a science fair. You will be assigned into teams of two. If anyone is interested please sign your name."

Oh. Another science fair. Fortunately, I have been working on the drone. The software needs more improvements though.

Kotori jumps from her seat and signs the paper.

"Good luck, Kotori and Shiro."

"Lucky," a student remarked, jealous that Kotori picked me.

She sat beside me, leaning eagerly on my desk with her elbows.

"Kotori. I didn't agree to working with you."

"It'll be fun though. Besides, who else but your sister to cheer you up?"

I sigh. She is very persistent. Well, it can't be helped. I know Kotori will at least pull her own weight.

"So, are we going to finish the flying machine?"

"Well. I was thinking of doing an easier project."

"But…I wrote that we are working on the flying machine."

My heart froze. I look at her and at the teacher.

The teacher approaches me, "I heard you were doing a flying machine. You're ambitious for a first-year, aren't you? Good luck!"

My body shakes uncontrollably, "Kotori…Why?"

"Don't worry," she laughs, "We can finish it! I know where we can get those fancy parts!"

"How?! They're expensive, Kotori!"

As soon as school ended she brought us home. She swings the door open.

"Mom!" Kotori shouts.

Tohru is cleaning dishes. The sudden noise of the door and Kotori makes her jump. She almost drops the dishes.

"Y-Yes, Kotori?"

"Do you remember the shopping mall?"

"Yes…I do. Is there something you need?"

Kotori shows the diagram from my laptop, "It's from aunt Kobayashi, mom. Shiro wants to finish it."

Tohru looks in awe, "Oooh…Of course! I know where we can find parts!"

"Where exac-" She cuts me off and performs a gesture.

 _Whoosh_

We were no longer in the living room. Somehow, we end up inside a store. There are hundreds of electronic parts that line the aisles.

An old man is standing in front of a cash register.

"I hear someone. Who is it?" the man wears a blindfold. He moves his head from side to side trying to hear or smell who entered.

"It's okay! It's me, Tohru," Tohru says in an energetic voice.

"Ah...Tohru. Do you need anything?"

Tohru pushes me closer to the old man, "It's for my son," she whispers in my ear, "Go ahead and tell him what you want."

I pull out a checklist, "Write this down. It's going to be a very huge list."

We buy the list of components I need (Luckily, it was at a discount.)

I place the parts in a bag and carry them onto Tohru's back, "Are you sure about this? What if people see us?"

"Don't worry! My magic will make us invisible."

I climb on to her back. Her scales look hard and tough, but they feel very fluffy when I touch them.

"Are you comfortable, Shiro?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm very comfortable…," I rub her scales with my fingers.

"Ahh…That feels good," she lets out a soft purr.

Kotori holds on to my shoulders, "Are you ready?"

Kotori is probably older than me by decades. Yet she acts like a little sister trying to cheer up her big brother. Well. Her tactics work; I am much more cheerful. With the parts in my bag I can finally finish my mother's invention. Tohru takes off into the night sky.

The cold breeze blows our hair and clothes. I look down and see the glowing lights of buildings and traffic below. Above me, are the stars. "I'm going to go a little bit faster, Shiro."

"Wait. What-" she speeds up. The gust hits my face. Gravity pushes down on my muscles.

I let out a scream, "Tohru, You're toooo damn fast!"

We made it home. I open the door, flip on the light switch, and jump on the couch.

"Thank goodness…I'm still alive."

Kotori opens the bag and looks at the parts. Tohru inspects them closely, "Wow. Did lady Kobayashi really work on this?"

I recall memories before the accident. I sit with my mother somewhere in the countryside. The wind brushes the grass to the side. The clouds are clear as the ocean.

She had several parts and a laptop with her. She shows me a picture of the flying machine. It looks like a car seat with propellers sticking from the four corners of its body. "This is a flying machine, Shiro. One day. When I finish this, we can fly in the sky. Like a dragon," she makes roaring noises. I giggle when she does that.

"Are you daydreaming, Shiro?"

"Hmm? Sorry. I was thinking of my mother."

Tohru sighs deeply, as if she were in an elated trance, "Yes. She would be proud of what you're doing, Shiro."

I look at the diagram and the parts. Without hesitation, I carry them outside and get to work. "The parts need to be welded together first," I tell them.

Tohru immediately picks up the parts and burns them with her breath. Saliva in Tohru's mouth gather. She drools on the metal. Her saliva is hot as molten magma. She puts metal components together and then blows on it. As the parts dry, they begin to harden.

Kotori works on the circuitry and electronic pieces. She rubs her fingers together and pokes the engine.

 _Pzzzttt_

The engine roars to life. The speedometer fluctuates back and forth.

We worked until dawn. It was hard, but none of us complained. Mom would have wanted us to finish her work. The machine is finished. The seat is a bicycle. The pedals are connected to the propellers.

"Start the engine," Tohru gently nudges me.

"Right," I climb into the seat. My foot steps down on the gas pedal. I turn the keys.

 _Vrrrrrrrr_

The engine roars to life. The propellers spin. The machine lifts off the ground and hovers 10 feet above Tohru and Kotori. I adjust the controls and stomp on the gas pedal. It doesn't climb any higher. This doesn't bother me. I've finished mom's prototype. I rest the machine on the ground and climb out of the cockpit.

"You did it," Tohru looks at me amazed. We at each other's eyes. "If only lady Kobayashi could see what you did for her."

I look at the sky, "I have a feeling she knows. At this moment, I feel like she is watching over us. Smiling."

I feel heavy. My eyelids close. Before I fall, Tohru catches me.

"You really pushed yourself today, Shiro. Get some rest."

That night I dreamt that I was floating in the sky. My back faced the ground and I was lying down on the clouds. The sun was in my eyes and I hear my mother's voice, "One day….we can fly in the sky…like a dragon…"


	6. Chapter 6

New (Foreign) Exchange Student

The teacher gets our attention by tapping on his desk, "Please welcome the new student to our class. His name is-"

The student walks into our class. His hair is purple. He wears a long black coat and a blank expression. He adjusts his glasses, "Please. Call me Magatsuchi."

The girls "Oooh," and "Ahh," as they look at him. His cool demeanor immediately latches on to them. The teacher points to the empty desks, "Please take a seat."

Magatsuchi sits in front of me, "Hey. You're the smart kid. Right?"  
Kotori gives him a glare for addressing me rudely. He smirks, "Hey! I didn't mean it like that. I heard you need help with the project? I'm smart, too. We could work together! How about it?"

"Well…I'm adding the finishing touches. I need-"

"A stronger engine?" he finishes my sentence.

Kotori and I exchange curious glances, "That's right."

"You showed off your diagram earlier for the teacher. I noticed it was being powered by a car engine. That's no good. You'll need a stronger source of electricity. We can discuss the details after the class," he turns his head to the front and opens his notebook.

The school bell rings and we wait outside the hallway. The girls surround him.

He holds one up by the chin. She stares dreamily into her eyes.

"Ladies. We can have lunch later. I have some work to do with a friend of mine!"

"Awww," they sigh.

Kotori crosses her shoulders, "This guy is a creep."

I nod, "Well. He is new. And he does know a thing or two about engines."

"Are you sure we should trust him?"

I shrug, "Well…We do need to finish the project. And he offered to help. He can't be all that bad."

Magatsuchi waves, "Come on. We have an engine to work on!"

We walk him to the block near our home.

"So, this is your home, huh?" he looks around, "Are you gonna introduce me to your parents?"

Kotori coughs and stares at me.

"Oh...About that…They're at work. So we can't.

Magatsuchi shrugs, "Haha. No worries. I need to be somewhere later anyway."

I frown. I wanted to bring him closer, but that would be too risky. We didn't want him to see Tohru. Luckily, Kotori brought the flying machine with us.

"Is this some sort of hoverbike? The students said you were working on something advanced. I didn't expect it to be _this_ advanced," he pulls out a pack of batteries.

"I'll charge them," Kotori takes the batteries and runs somewhere private where he can't see her use her magic.

Magatsuchi looks at her butt as she runs, "Hmm…," he winks at me, "Your sister's cute. Is she dating?"

I'm flustered by his question. I never really thought of her as "cute".

"Hmm? You thinkin' about how cute she is?"

"No! No! Not at all."

"Ahh…So you're more into the girls at school, right?" he gives me a mischievous wink and grin.

She runs back and drops them in his hands. We place the batteries in the engines and power on the machine. The speedometer accelerates faster by about ten percent.

I jump in the seat and step on the pedals. It floats to the top of the apartment roofs.

He walks closer to the machine and looks up, "Much better?"

" _Much_ better," I answer.

"Glad to hear. This should win you first place no problem," Magatsuchi looks at his watch, "I need to go."

"You're leaving already?" I land the machine.

"Some of the girls from our class want to see me. I'll see you at the fair," he shrugs and walks off.

"Ugh. Creep," Kotori groans.

I shrug. He's smart. Too smart for his own good. He could be a great scientist or engineer. It's too bad he only cares about dating women, "Yeah. If he cared less about women he could probably solve world hunger or cure cancer."

Kotori shakes her head, "Cancer?"

"Well…," I begin to think of a hundred examples/ways to explain, but she interrupts me.

"Nevermind. Forget I asked," she groans, "I have a bad feeling about him. Whenever I'm around I feel like I want to throw up."

"Please. The fair is tomorrow. Please put up with him for one more day?" I give her my best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

Kotori closes her eyes and shakes her head furiously. She then sighs, "Okay, after that, he can grope them or whatever his sick mind is thinking of right now for all I care."

Me, Tohru, and Kotori sit at the dinner table. She pours curry on our plate.

"Curry? We're not eating tail again, Tohru?"

Tohru taps me on the forehead, "Would you like to eat my tail again?"

"Oh no, no, no! C-Curry is fine," I shake my head. I grab my fork and dig in.

She smiles and pets me, "Good. I heard from Kotori a new student is in your class."

My face is red, "Stop…I'm not a boy, y'know? But yeah. His name is Magatsuchi."

Tohru mutters the name to herself, "That name sounds familiar."

"Tohru. He's only 14. There's no way you could know him unless you met him as a baby."

Tohru nods, "Right, right. I must be imagining things. Anyway. I'm coming to the science fair tomorrow."

Kotori cheers, "Yeah, mom! It'll be fun!"

"But what if those knights-" Tohru hushes me.

"No need to worry. My perception block spell will be on. They'll only see a normal adult woman!"

"Yeah, Shiro. It'll be fine. You gotta just take a deep breath and relax. Okay?"

Well…It has been a while since they caused trouble. I'm worrying too much. I think about my time with mother. She would help me on my projects in primary school. I remember worrying about my project. Whenever I did worry, Kobayashi would shrug and say, "Whatever happens, happens. Don't let that ruin your fun, Shiro. Just take deep breathes" she flexes her chest and takes a deep breath.

"1…2…3…," I breath through my lungs deeply. Kotori wraps her arms around me and pulls me closer to her, "Better?"

"Yeah... Thank you, Kotori…Thank you Tohru."

They both give me a big grin and nod their heads.

The teachers open the gym and set up tables and chairs for the science fair. A lot of people are participating this year. None of their projects compared to mine. A lot of students approached me and asked, "Hey, Shiro. What's this thing?" I begin by explaining what is and how it works.

A student points his finger at me, "Wait," his voice trembles, "Y-You did this by yourself?!"

"No. I had help."

Kotori and Tohru wave at the students, "Hii!"

"Wow. Kotori is smart."

"I thought she was a slacker. She's amazing," the students whisper to each other.

The judges begin voting. "And first place…Goes to…Shiro."

The entire room applauds and cheers.

"Good work, Shiro!"

"Yeah! You deserve it!"

I take the prize and bow to the judges.

Snacks and drinks are made available to everyone in the room. There is a lot of chatter and laughter. I wonder though. Where did Magatsuchi go? "Hey. Has anyone see Magatsuchi?"

People shrug. Tohru approaches me, "What does your friend look like?"

"Well…He has a long coat. Glasses."

"What color is his hair?"

"Purple…" Tohru grabs my hand.

"Tohru. What are you doing?"

She drags me out of the gym, "I knew his name sounded familiar," she sniffed the air.

"Wait. Could you explain to me what is going on?!" I shout while struggling to break free from her grip.

She runs to the rooftop and kicks the door open.

Magatsuchi is sitting down. He's holding a King card.

Kotori catches up with us, "Mom? You left so quickly. Is there something wrong?"

Magatsuchi smirks, "It's been a while, Tohru."

Tohru shows her claws, "I know your dad. Shouta, right?"

I look on dumbfounded. They both know each other? Is this some sort of family feud? Now that I think about it, it was strange that he sat next to me. Out of all the people to sit next to, why me?

Magatsuchi nods, "That's right. My dad is a friend of yours."

They don't sound like friends. I stood still. The sun sets. Gusts of wind blows against us.

There is pain in his eyes, "The fool fell in love with a dragon. Only recently was I able to redeem myself by joining the knights."

Tohru growls. Her eyes are bloodshot red. She is ready to pounce on him, "What did you do to him?"

He gives the three of us a cold glare, "He shamed our family by falling in love with that "succubus". We made an example of them. Enough. I didn't come here to talk about my past," he points at us. His cards fly from his deck and land on the floor.

 _Poof_

The cards explode into the shape of a fence. I can feel magic auras emanating from them.

"I read about you, Tohru. My, how you fell from grace. You used to lead a faction of dragons. Now you're exiled by your own people and live in hiding here. Was it worth it? Was it worth falling in love with Kobayashi?"

Tohru shields me and Kotori. Tears drip from her eyes. "I-If I could go back in time, I would fall in love with her again."

My heart skips. Tohru…loves…mom? I run towards her, but she pushes me down.

"Ow…Tohru!" I shout at the top of my lungs, "What is he talking about?! Is he telling you the…the truth?!"

Tohru frowns. Her eyes are closed. I can see her body shake.

"Tohru?! Say something. Please!"

She shakes her head crying, "Hah…Haha…It's true…Shiro. It's all true…"

The man I thought was my classmate laughs, "This boy is the son of the woman you love. And you kept that a secret from him? What kind of mother are you? Hahhahaha….Hahhahaa!"

"Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Tohru flings her magic firebolts at him.

The ground shakes with each hit.

 _Toom…Toom…Tooom…Tooom…_

The barrier begins to crack. The last bolt pierces the barrier. Magus jumps out of the way. The projectile flies away from the roof and explodes in the sky.

Magus speaks in a deep emotionless voice, "What other secrets are you keeping from him?"

I struggle to get back up. My hands are blistered. I can't move my right hand. I shake uncontrollably like a rattle, "I don't believe a thing you said."

"Come on, Shiro! She put up a barrier in her house for a reason."

"How do you know that…?"

He burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, "For a genius, you really are a slow learner! Those batteries weren't there for show! I put magical beacons in them. That's how I tracked your mother and sister."

Tohru sprints directly at him and lunges. Magus stomps the ground and a stalagmite springs out of the ground.

 _Boom!_

Tohru punches the stalagmite with her fist. It crumbles into a million pieces.

"You won't take my family away from me again," she charges another spell.

"Are you sure about that? Are you even strong enough to fight me, Tohru?" he readies another spell.

This fighting is getting nowhere. At this rate, they will destroy the school. I think of the people below. The hundreds of students who could be hurt or killed in their fight. This had to stop! I run in between them, extending my arms out.

I cough," Ugh…Ugh…Magatsuchi! Tohru! Stop!"

The wind whistles quietly. The sun is gone. It is night and the city lights roar to life. I can hear students shouting, "What's going on up there?"

 _Tap..Tapp…Tapp…_

There are footsteps below the stairs.

"That is my alias, Shiro. I prefer it if you call me Magus. For short," he conjures bolts of ice projectiles. He waves his hands and the shards of ice fly at us.

"Shiro!" Kotori tackles me to the floor. Some shards penetrate Tohru's skin.

"Kyah!" Tohru falls. She grabs the shards and slowly pulls them out," Arggh!"

Magus steps closer to Tohru, "You met the knights I command. They're pushovers compared to me," he rubs Tohru's forehead.

"D-Don't touch me!" she snarls at him.

I wrestle out of Kotori's hands and run toward Tohru. I reach in my bag and pull out a sword.

"Hyah!" I swing the sword with all my might at Magus.

He jumps out the way. I can see his mischievous smile. Earlier I thought it was a harmless smile, but now that I know who he _really_ is, I can see the malevolent intent he is hiding behind his grin. "I didn't come to kill you. Listen carefully, Tohru. You are from the other world. Us knights are supposed to protect humans from dragons like you. You managed to evade my comrades before. But I won't be fooled. If you act out of line, if you reveal your form to humans, I will come back and deal with you myself," he opens up a portal. He walks toward the portal and takes one step inside. He stops halfway inside, "Oh and Shiro. You're a human. You don't need to be involved. But if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to hurt you."

I collapse, "Magatsuchi…This whole time you've been using me? Was everything you said just an act?"

"That's right. Everything. I personally despise women and I have no need for friends either," Magus teleports. His fading voices echoes, "Stay out of my way- way…way…way…"

The door creaks open, "Who's there?!" a teacher shouts.

Kotori touches me and Tohru.

 _Whoosh!_

A flash of light blinds me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Leave or Stay? (Either choice has consequences. Will I make the right one?)**

 **Author's note: I want to thank everyone for the compliments and I'm happy that everyone is enjoying the story! I have an outline of chapters 7 - 13 and hope you enjoy reading through them.**

The fireplace brightens up the dark room. In the shadowy corner of the living room is Tohru. She wraps herself up in a warm blanket. I kneel beside her. My head rests on her

forehead.

"I'm sorry, Kobayashi…," she mumbles. I rub her forehead, "I-It's just like old times," she forces a smile and sighs. I can feel the pain in her voice. I should let her rest, but I

know I can't do that. Not when I have so many questions to ask her.

"Tohru. About mom…," I choke.

"Yes, Shiro? I know I have been hiding things from you. I promise I won't do that ever again. No. From now on, I swear to Kobayashi I will tell you the truth."

Kotori gives me an encouraging nudge, "Go for it, Shiro."

"Tohru. Did my mother really die in an accident?"

Tears pour down Tohru's cheeks, "No," she shakes her head and sniffs, "No...No, she didn't. It's a long story, Shiro. But I think you deserve to know what really happened."

I move closer so my ears can pick up every detail.

She pauses and hums to herself, "A long time ago your mother saved me. I was wounded in a fight between the gods and dragons. Miss Kobayashi found me and removed a

sword that was stuck in my body. She offered me a home."

"You're not my aunt? Who are you?"

She pets me on the head, "I love her, you see. You could say we're a couple. I spent my life fighting the gods. But that day I met her I left my world and lived here. I tried to

forget about the war…the suffering."

Kotori places an herb on Tohru's wounds, "Don't force yourself, mom."

"No!" she waves her hands, "I'll tell him the story. You see in the war there are two factions of dragons. Harmony and Chaos. Harmony doesn't intervene in human affairs.

Chaos fights to do what they want. Killing humans in the process."

I lay down with her, "So. That means you're from the Chaos faction? Why didn't you kill anyone?"

"I did it for Kobayashi's sake. I wanted to change. Forget my past," she rolls to the side and stares at the wall, "I thought I could live with Kobayashi and make the most of every

minute. But I was wrong."

I shake my head, "Life is short. Every minute counts. Ever since I met you, Tohru, I suffered. But I also had fun with you. I can't remember what life I lived before I met you."

"Hah…," Tohru coughs, "I remember Kobayashi saying the same things. Things happened in my world. Things got out of hand. You see, I'm the leader of Chaos. When everyone

found out I was living with a human…Things got so much worse."

I nod. I nod because I know where she is going with this. I flip through my notebook and find old pictures of me with Kobayashi, "I heard from Kotori and magus. You're stuck in

this world. They exiled you, didn't they? Your own faction?"

Her empty eyes stare at the shadows of the fireplace, "Yes. Another dragon overthrew me. I can't remember his name, but he fought against Harmony. Harmony was losing…

badly. They were forced to ally with the humans. A huge battle took place and the Harmony faction shut the portal."

I take in everything she has told me. It is a tragic and complicated story. It isn't exactly written by Shakespeare, but it is in the same vein, "That explains why magus didn't kill

you outright. I'm guessing the other dragons from Harmony and whoever fled to this world are living in secret, trying not to draw attention to themselves."

Tohru giggles a bit. She extends her hands, "You're just as bright as your mother."

I press my cheek against her chest. She wraps her arms around me rubbing my back. Katori squeezes in between us. A breeze of wind puts out the fireplace.

"So…," I whisper, "Where does my mom fit into all of this?"

Her eyes are teary, "The knights told me to keep quiet, stay away from humans, but I can't hide who I am forever. I'm a dragon and Kobayashi accepts me for who I am.

Still...The knights of the Harmony faction think it's a crime for Dragons and Humans to be so close. They already hunted down other dragons for the same exact reason before. I

love her more than anyone else in the world. But, I can't let Kobayashi get hurt because of me. When she was asleep, I left. She never saw me again. After that, she married

Takiya."

I feel my heart aching when she says this. I knew how important she is to Tohru. She is also an important person in my life. It is a shame for both of us that her life was cut

short.

"I wanted to return. So badly. But I didn't want to reveal myself to the knights. I waited. For years. Waited for the right time to reveal myself. When I heard that she had a baby

boy, I came back as soon as I could and then…and then…," she stutters and looks at me. Her face is one of guilt. The same expression I made ever since that day she died.

"The knights found me. We were both invisible, luckily. They told me I wasn't allowed out in the open in dragon form. I ignored them and got closer to Kobayashi's car. I could

see you in the window…Your eyes…They were just like Kobayashi's. A fight broke out between me and the knights. I breathed fire to drive them off. But one of my fireballs

smashed into the road. The road that Kobayashi drove on. The car swerved uncontrollably and there was a loud crash."

I look at her amazed. My fingers clutched tighter on to her. My eyes were shut the whole time. I felt the wet moisture in my eyes. The tears dripped gently down my cheek.

She sighs, petting me, "I failed Kobayashi. I was afraid of failing you, too. That's why I didn't accept you in at first, but…I did. And I love you just as much as her. I kept the

secret from you. I had to. To protect that precious smile of yours. But all I've done is put you in danger. The knights now know you live with me. If they come for me, they will

hurt you, too. Maybe even kill you," she reaches for the phone to the side of the couch she rests on, "I'll call Takiya. He can take care-"

I punched the floor with my clenched fist, "It's not your fault!"

"...W-What?" she didn't hear me or maybe she was confused by what I said. I smash my fist into the floor a second time. A third time. A fourth time.

"It's not your fault! I knew life would be hard for me. Like I said, I suffered. But I felt so much joy with you and Kotori. I forgot about what my life was like before almost. I don't

want to return to life before I met you! It sucks. It sucks!" I scream uncontrollably. I am loud enough to disturb the neighbors, but I didn't care. I shout to the world, "It sucked

back then. I felt nothing. All I did was sit at my mother's grave. Study. Go to school and do it all over again. I don't care about the danger. I don't care about the knights! I'll get

stronger if I have to! I'll face them all! Toh- Mom. I love you!"

Tohru is quiet. Kotori looks at me in awe. They both smile with heavy tears in their eye. That night, we spent together in the living room, crying, laughing, clinging to each other

closely. A dragon's body feels so warm and welcoming. Especially at a time like this.

Small rays from the sun flash through the gaps in the curtains of the window. My eyelids slowly open.

"Zzz…zzz…," a trail of smoke comes out of Tohru's nose while she snores.

Sleeping like a baby? I shake my head. I look through my bag. I find the sword I had retrieved from the knights. The knights Kotori and I beat up. Magus will come back. This

time I plan to meet him. I gently open the door and shut it behind me. I climb down the steps to our yard. The flying machine is still there. I rummage through the engine.

 _Click. Clack. Click Clack._

There! I find the batteries Magus gave me. I poke them. It gives off a rainbow-colored glow.

He can enchant non-magical items? Maybe if I learn how to do that I could face him.

I search through my laptop for information. I find some articles on enchanting. This must be the information I'm looking for. I take notes and study every detail I can. When I'm

done, it is already noon.

I'm practicing with my sword. I take a few practice swings with it and do pirouettes around a practice dummy. "You need more practice," a voice tells me. I look up and see a girl

in her teens. She wears an exotic coat. Something sown with different color-patterns. It looks like an Inuit design.

"Who are you?" I raise my sword.

"I know what happened to lady Tohru," she jumps toward me, "Did you hurt her?"

I shake my head, "No. What are you talking about? And you didn't answer my question. _Who_ are you?!"

She ignores my questions and glares at me. Her face is so close to mine that I can feel her cold breath blow against my nose, "You hurt her, didn't you?"

"Geez. You're really nosy. And annoying."

She glares at me then mutters, "Cuckold."

Who does she think she is calling me that? What a brat...

"Bitch," I reply.

"Bastard in glasses," she replies.

"She-devil with horns," I retort.

"Take that back!" she tackles me to the floor and we start wrestling.

"No!"

"Take it back! Take it back!" she's pounding my face with her fists.

"Kanna Kamui," Tohru stands there with crossed arms, tapping her foot on the ground, "That's no way to talk to my son," she clenches her fist.

"Lady Tohru!" she looks at me, then back to Tohru in shock, "I didn't mean to. I swear!"

She pats Kanna on the head, "Kotori. Shiro. This is a friend of mine. Kanna Kamui. I'm sorry for her behavior. She doesn't like strangers."

Kanna looks at me, "He doesn't look like a dragon. Smells like a human…"

"That's because she is," Tohru grins.

Kanna's mouth is open. She looks at Tohru in horror, "Lady Tohru!"

"He's family. Family sticks together. I will not abandon him like I did Kobayashi."

Kanna frowns, "I understand lady Tohru. I saw him training. Why?"

"I'm training so I can protect them from the knights."

Kanna gives me a blank stare, "You can't beat them with just a sword! They have magic, too."

"Then teach me magic!" I hold up my notes on enchanting, "Train me. I can do it! I can beat them!"

Kanna presses the notes against her eyes and scans each of them, "I'm a dragon. The training I go through would be too much for a human."

"Good. That means when I complete it I can fight just as good as a dragon," I sharpen my sword.

"Lady Tohru, this boy is just as stubborn as you, if not, more stubborn. I can see why you took him in. "Kanna shrugs, "It can't be helped. Fine. I'll train you."

Kanna looks at Tohru. Tohru nods.

"Close your eyes!" she readies a spell.

"Teleportation?" I wrap my hands around my eyes.

 _BANG!_

I land face first into the sand. I look up. The beach waves recede and pull closer to the surface. There's a calm _whoosh_ sound as the waves splash against the beach. There

seems to be no one in sight.

"Where did you teleport us?" I groan.

Tohru looks around, "You could have told us. I need to change into something more comfortable."

Kanna points to a shed, "I left some swimsuits there."

"Oh thanks," she waves at me, "Good luck, Shiro. We'll be waiting here for you."

She skips to the shed with glee.

"Where do we train?" I catch my breath.

"One second," she performs a ritual with her hands.

I am lifted off my feet by an invisible force.

"Whoa, wait- Couldn't I just ride on your back?"

"Not in a million years,"Kanna turns into her dragon form. A slippery serpent-like dragon.

She flies in a zigzag maneuver until we are in the clouds where humans can't see us.

Kanna changes back into a girl, "You've studied enchanting magic. You practiced how to fight. Now I want you to apply what you learned and beat me," she assumes a defensive

stance. I can't fail now. I focus all my energy and begin casting.


	8. Chapter 8

Magic 101 (With Kanna and friends)

 _Ptoom!_

Flashes of light and rain pours from the clouds below us. I'm standing on top of thin air. My feet feel like they're pressed against a glass floor. Kanna blinks in

front of me. She leans back and does a high-kick.

 _Clang_

I deflect the blow with my sword. The force of the kick puts pressure on my wrist.

"Argh," I groan and fall back.

"Again!" she blinks a second time.

I look around me. She's invisible. She appears behind me and punches me in the back.

"Too slow!"

"How am I supposed to see that?!"

She knocks me on the head and vanishes, "Use your senses. Channel your energy! Focus!"

I breathe deeply and close my eyes. I hear the seagulls chirping down below.

 _Splash…_

The waves crash on the shore again.

 _Tap Tap Tap_

Footsteps! I swing in a 180 degree turn. The moment she re-emerges I strike her with my sword.

 _Clang_

Kanna falls back. She does a backflip in the air and blinks. She blinks under me and punches me in the gut.

"You're relying too much on your weapon. You need to be able to use magic on me."

I clutch my wound with my hand while still holding the sword, "It's not that easy. I'm trying to focus. But…"

Kanna puts her arm on my shoulder, "You need to stop thinking about what happened to Kobayashi."

Easier said than done. I pace back and forth, "I can't! I can't do that so easily, Kanna."

Kanna sighs. She teleports us back to the beach, "Take a break, Shiro. We can continue later," she then runs to the shed. I sit on the beach thinking. How can

I forget Kobayashi so easily? After everything that happened she expects me to stop thinking about her? Kotori points at me while staring at Tohru. Tohru

walks over to me.

"When you lived with us the first time it wasn't easy either."

"That's different though."

"How so? We have to deal with _another_. Who cares if he's stronger?"

Tohru makes it sound like a walk in the park. As if we could beat Magus overnight. I look at her in amazement.

"How do you manage to move on? After everything that happened you always pick yourself up and keep going!"

Tohru kneels beside and whispers, "Well. There is a human method for relieving stress."

I nod and get closer, "Please. Tell me! What is this method called?"

"Well…I can show you, but you need to close your eyes."

Confused I cover my eyes, "What's next?"

 _Splash_

A water balloon smacks into my face and releases a pint of water over me.  
"Hey!" my clothes are drenched.

"The method is called 'fun'," she giggles.

"You're going to regret that!" I look around. There is a pile of water balloons next to me.

Tohru's wing stretch out of her back and she glides over to her pile of water balloons.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I call out.

"Are you afraid I'll beat you?"

"As if!" I pick up two water balloons and toss them at her.

She glides out of the way with grace. The balloons smash into the ground and discharge the water inside.

She strafes me like a bomber and dumps her two balloons on me. I can't lose now! I roll out of the way into washed up kelp. The kelp sticks to my clothes.

"You look like a sea monster, Shiro!

My pile has three water balloons remaining. I grab them and aim carefully. She holds another pair and nosedives toward me.

Kotori jumps in front of me and blocks the hit. Her swimsuit is drenched in strange liquid.

I run over to Kotori, "That doesn't look like water."

"Nope. It's saliva."

"Gross."

"Actually, it's really clean- Look out!" she points to Tohru. She's diving right at me. I stand my ground.

I count, 1…2….3! I toss my pair of balloons. They hit her in the face.

"Ack! I lost!" she crashes into the sand. She rolls on the ground laughing, "Hahha...ahhaha."

Her laughter is contagious. Before I knew it, I started chuckling. Kotori even joined in. We all lay on the sand looking at the sky and breath in the nice ocean breeze.

Kanna walks over to us with a bucket of crabs, "No fair, You should have invited me," she gives us a pouty face for not letting her place.

Tohru and I look at each other, "Best two out of three?" we both ask each other at the exact same moment.

We played a tense match for the next three hours. Me and Kotori were on the same team while Kanna and Tohru played on the opposing team. At first, it was

a normal match, but things got out of hand. Before I knew it, there were explosions and craters. We all collapse on the floor…. _again_.

Kanna's stomach growls. She points at the crabs, "That's dinner for tonight."

"Then let's eat!" I raise my fist in the air.

Tohru prepares the fire. By sunset we fully cook the crabs. I crack the shells of the crabs with some kitchen utensils Tohru provided and chewed on their insides.

 _Crunch Crunch Gulp_

Tohru and Kotori bite and swallow the shells. Afterwards the swallow the soft insides and drink the body fluids like soup.

 _Nom, Nom, Nom, Nom_

Kanna puts the crabs in her mouth one by one and swallows.

The fires crackles, snaps, and pops. The light illuminates the beach. I look at the full moon's reflection in the sea.

"This beach is the same place me and your mother would go to every summer, Shiro."

I breath in the ocean air and let out a relaxed sigh, "It's beautiful. I could stay here forever."

She wiggles her finger and playfully scolds me, "Now, now, now. We can't do that. We have a lot of work to do."

"True. Those knights will try to come after us. We need to be stronger."

"Ohh..," Kanna gasps. She sniffs the air.

Tohru leans over, "Is something wrong, Kanna?"

She sniffs the air, "Can you smell it?"

Kotori sniffs the air, "It's a dragon…"

 _Sniff_

Tohru jumps up, "It's Lucoa! But where?"

Kanna points to the shadow of an island we can barely see in the distance, "That's where they must be held."

I hold on to my sword, "Then let's rescue her!"

Kanna shakes her head, "You're not ready yet. You still need to finish your training."

"Then I'll finish it tomorrow!"

"Shiro, that is going to be very difficult. Are you sure you can complete it _that_ quickly?"

I stomp the floor and shake my fist, "I can! I have to. Tohru took me in, fed me, cared for me. She asked for nothing in return. Now it's my turn to help her,Kotori, everyone else!"

Kanna looks at me curiously.

 _Crack. Pop…Snap…_

The fireplace interrupts the silence between us.

"I believe you can," Kanna nods. She slowly gets up, "Tomorrow. I will train you in magic. Good luck, Mr. Kobayashi. I will not go on easy on you!"

 _ **The next morning**_

We're levitating above the clouds. The sun rises in the west. It shines in my eye. I close my right eye and block the rays with my hand.

 _Whoooosshh…_

It's beautiful today. There are no clouds. I can see the ocean from here. The flock of birds flying around. The fins of dolphins swimming with the current. Kanna and I look at each other. I can see a fire in her eyes. A serious expression that shows how far she will go for Tohru. It's like looking in a mirror at your own reflection. That is exactly how I feel for Tohru, my sister Kotori, and all my friends. That is why I can't lose. I must complete my training. I must defeat Magus. Gusts of air form like whirlpools swirling around Kanna. The air is sucked into Kanna's clothes.

 _Pzzt..pzzt.._

Her tail stands straight like a spear. Her body glows, "I'm now at my maximum potential, Shiro. If you can't learn to channel the magic into you, you will get injured. Or worse. Are you sure you want to continue?"

I nod. I breathe and focus. I close my eyes. The air flows through my lungs. I feel the wind, I hear the oceans, but I sense more than just that. I sense a presence. I control my beating heart.

"It's…here," I open my eyes to see colorful trails of light around us, "This is...magic?"

"Good," she runs towards me, "Now we can fight!"

I parry a punch from her. The force of the blow spreads through my sword. My wrists tire. Kanna wraps around the sword and pushes down on me, "Focus!" I relax. As I do that the lights go into my body. The sword feels light as a feather. This is magic! I can use it! I shove her with my sword arm, "Hyah!"

Kanna falls back. She regains her footing before she lands on her butt. She vanishes.

"Teleportation again?!"

"You can do it, Shiro!" Tohru yells.

I grin. Right…this is nothing compared to what I've been through the past. I look around me. There are magic lights everywhere. I see a distortion to my right. Could that be where she's going to attack?

She reappears from the distortion. I swipe my sword in a horizontal slice. It hits Kanna in the face. She rubs her face. There is a visible scratch. So she does leave a trace when she teleports.

"I won't go easy on you," she turns into her dragon form. She extends her wings and glides past me.

"Oh no you don't!" Can I control the flow of magic? I kneel. The energy flows down to my legs. I jump, dispelling the energy through my feet like a jetpack. I

fly upward until I'm close enough to Kanna. Time slows down. I can see the surprise in her eyes. I thrust into her wing and jump back. My feet land on the

barrier. Feathers from her wings gently float down to the floor.

Kanna steers around and faces me she opens her mouth.

 _Vrrrrmmmm…._

A large beam of energy is forming around her mouth.

I look around. There is no way I can jump out of the way in time. Can I shield myself? I ready my blade. I can control the flow of the magic to whatever part

of my body so far. Could I channel it into an object? I focus on my sword. My head begins to ache. I can see the magical energy rushing to the tip of the blade.

Kanna releases the beam toward me.

 _Ptoom!_

The beam breaks the sound barrier. Violent winds lash at my legs and arms. I can see the beam flying in slow motion. I assume the stance of a baseball player.

I wait. The distance between the beam and me closes. I breathe and concentrate, staring at the beam. Closer…closer…Closer…

The intense heat from the beam is rushing through my body. Sweat pours down my head. Now! I swing.

The sword deflects the beam. The force of the blow causes my sword to fly out of my hand. It falls on the floor with a loud _clang.._ It bounces on the floor and

then jumps into the air again.

 _Clang Clang._

I see the beam fly back toward Kanna.

 _BOOM!_

Fireballs fly in every direction. The knockback kicks me off my feet and sends me flying backwards.

I crash into a barrier and fall on the floor. I squirm.

There's so much smoke that I can't see anything.

"Ack..Ack…," I clear my throat, "K-Kanna?"

Kanna falls into the barrier face first and slides toward me. She breathes heavily.

She rolls over and looks at me in amazement. Her eyes widen.

"You did it…," she crawls over to me.

"Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head. Her hand rubs my head, "Good job….Shiro."

She looks at me with a curious glance. Tohru floats up to me and Kanna. She wraps her arms around both of us and lands on the beach.

She puts both of her hands on her hips, "So. Kanna-chan. Did Shiro pass?"

"He passes…With flying colors."

I catch my breath, "That was tough…But I did it."

We lay on the floor exhausted from our fight and look at the sky.

"Now we have to fight the knights."

Tohru jumps on me, "So, Mr. Kobayashi. Let's go rescue my friends."

I roll over and rest on my side, "Not yet."

"No, not until I rest," Kanna concurs.

"Hahha…," she points at us, "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Kanna-chan. What did I say about pushing yourself?"

"Sorry. I thought I would lose that time. He's strong…For a human," she lets out a deep sigh.

Kotori groans, "Now we got to treat _both_ your wounds," she looks at me and smiles, "It can't be helped," she leans over, "Good work, bro!"

"I did say I would return the favor, right?"

She nods and gives me a kiss. My eyes open wide and I get flustered quickly. My face sweats even more than from the heat of Kanna's beam.

"You look like you're about to die. Did you… _like_ it?"

"Wh-What, no. I don't…," I lied.

Once me and Kanna are fully rested we get to work. I pull out my drone. Magus can enchant batteries. So, this should be easy for a drone. I cast a spell and it and send it flying toward the ocean.

Kanna points, "I smell them in that direction."

I kneel beside her while steering with my controller, "That means there is an island somewhere. I cast a revealing spell," I flip open my books, "It should, in

theory, reveal the island even if it's cloaked with magic."

A few minutes later there is a _beep beep beep_ noise from my controller. We found it. Now for our next move. I open a blank paper and start drawing.


	9. Chapter 9

Friend of A Friend(A standoff between me and Magus ensues)

 _Thoom Thoom_

Kanna smacks her head against an invisible wall over and over, "I can't break through!"

I rest on Tohru's back and watch while shaking my head.

"It must be a barrier," Tohru claws at the wall. A magic circle appears then fades.

I focus on the barrier and see a giant aurora of lights. It looks just like the Northern Lights I read about in

a book; They grow far north and have dazzling colors that flash and wave like an ocean current.

Kanna rams her head into the barrier again, "Let me through!"

"Stop it, Kanna. We can't get through!" Tohru shakes her head.

Kanna floats around in circles. The wind brushes against her soft fur, "Lucoa is on the other on the side. She needs us!"

"It's an anti-dragon barrier. If you force yourself you will be too weak to help anyone!"

I stand up and carefully balance my footing on Tohru's back. I approach the wall closely.

Tohru shouts at me, "Shiro. You might fall off."

I shake my head, "Don't worry about me. I have an idea," I stand on the tip of Tohru's nose I press my face on the barrier and force my arm through.

Ripples travel through the barrier. My fist sticks out on the other side. I recede my arm's reach.

"I can get through!"

Tohru and Kanna exchange glances.

"Good work, Shiro!" Tohru compliments, "But…The barrier is all the way over there!" she points to an island several thousand feet below. That's problematic; If I want to reach the island I would have to dive several feet down without Tohru to catch my fall or worse, swim. I think for a second. What could I use to reach the island? I think for a while. I remember Kobayashi. I recall a day where I was playing. I walked into Kobayashi's room. The only light in the room is a lamp on her desk. There are hundreds of blueprints of inventions for flying. On the desk, I see a sketch of a human with sails attached to their arms. She waves to me. My curiosity piqued, I asked her, "Mom. What are you working on?" She strokes my hair and replies, "I'm working on inventions to help me fly." I tilt my head, "Why?" She opens the curtains. The sun warms the room and casts ray of sunlight on us. She looks at the blue skies. She daydreams, "The skies are so peaceful. I want to just fly through them and not have to worry about work every once in a while."

Kotori waves her hand in front of my face, "hello? Did you fall asleep with your open eyes?"

I snap out of my daze, "Sorry. I just remember that Kobayashi had blueprints. For flying."

"Like the flying machine?"

"No. Much better than that. She had dozens of them."

"Then what are we waiting for, Shiro!? Let's make it."

"One problem," I scratch my head and turn my head, "I don't have those blueprints. I only had a couple that my mother gave me. But not the one I need."

Tohru douses the barrier in fire. The trail of flame rushing from her mouth hits the wall like a stream of a kitchen sink's water against a dish, "Dammit. I can't leave her there. Shiro. Do you know where those blue prints are? Who could possibly have them?!"

I think and come up with an answer. However, my heart sinks when I realize who could have them. I look at Tohru with worried eyes, "There is one person. Takiya."

Tohru's eyes focus on me. I can see her angry snake pupils, "I won't speak to him. I hate him."

I sigh," What other choice do we have? We have to ask, Tohru."

She sighs, "Fine. Let's go."

We step into Takiya System's office headquarters. Takiya is lecturing the manager, "What did I say about yelling at employees! You're not the manager anymore and you can't blame them for problems that _isn't_ their fault!"

"Achem," I clear my throat.

He turns to see me standing at the front door. His eyes widen. He runs toward me and wraps my around me, "Shiro. Where did you go!?"

"It's...good to see you too, Takiya," Tohru forces herself to say.

He glares at Tohru then turns to me, "You're with Tohru. Shiro…There are humans that are after-"

"I know," I interrupt him, "We found one."

He has a mortified face, "Shiro. Did they hurt you? You gotta leave Tohru! I have a place where you can be safe! Just come with me!"

"Shiro is _my_ son. And I won't let you split us up! He needs me!" Tohru hisses.

"Yeah?! Is this what he needs?! Being hunted by mages! Living in hiding!"

I put my hand on both their chests and gently push them in opposite directions.

"Tohru. Please. He's still my dad…Even after everything he did…," I face Takiya, "Dad. I can't leave her. I made my decision."

Takiya sighs and presses his palm against his forehead, "Well…If that's your decision it can't be helped. Please if you can…visit me. And I you need an allowance I can provide that."

I let out a breath of relief. Tohru and Takiya look at each other for a long minute. They nod at each other.

I cough, "Anyway. Takiya. Do you have mom's blueprints?"

"Her…blueprints?"

"She had blueprints for inventions that'd help her fly."

He paces back and forth, "I...stored them in a warehouse. I don't let anyone inside."

"This is important, dad. I need a blueprint for mom's glider," I plead.

"Those blueprints are items I kept. I don't want to just give them away. They're things I have to remember Kobayashi by. But If you need them," he reaches for his keys, "Follow me."

We follow dad to a warehouse guarded by a man in black.

Tohru runs up to him. He frowns and stares blankly at whatever is in front of him.

"Fafnir?" Tohru walks in circles around him.

He nods, "It's a pleasure to meet you again."

I scratch my head. She has a lot of friends I though. As much as I would like to get to know them, I need to rescue Tohru's friend, Lucoa. Takiya leads us to a warehouse door. He pulls the door up. Inside are boxes full of blueprints sticking out of the boxes. There are tools scattered everywhere. On desks, on the floor and even hanging from the wall.

On a small desk is a sketch of the glider in my memories of Kobayashi, "This is the one. We need to finish this!"

"Wait," Takiya says, "That invention would take at least a day to finish."

Tohru grabs the blueprint and picks up the tools, "We don't have that much time. Finish it in a few hours," she demands Takiya do.

He shakes his head, "It's not that simple."

Fafnir mutters, "Actually. I could help you. We can finish this device with my powers."

Takiya ponders for a minute, "I guess I could do that…"

"Please, dad," I hold on to his hand, "Finish this for me?"

He sighs and nods, "I will, son. I will. Tell me where I need to bring it. I will deliver it in a few hours."

Tohru grabs my other hand and drags me away, "I hope you keep your word. You already disappointed him before. Don't do it again," she threatens.

"No, Tohru. I won't. You have my word."

 _Splash_

A wave crashes into the sand and recedes. It's already an hour. I walk in circles impatiently, "Ten more minutes," I beg. Tohru scowls, "He's late. There's no way he'll make. Let's leave, Shiro."

"Please!" I shout, "Give him more time!"

"He's late Shiro! He abandoned us," she turns into a dragon and prepares to take off.

Kotori holds my hand tightly, "I'm sorry, Shiro. He didn't make it."

"You wouldn't give up on me, would you, Kotori?"

"No! Of course not. You're my brother."

"Yes, exactly. We're family. Despite everything that happened, Takiya is family. Are we going to give up on family now?"

She smiles at me and shakes her head.

"Let's leave, Kotori, " Tohru flaps her wings.

"No. I'm staying. With Shiro. We're going to wait."

Kanna shrugs and sits down.

Tohru groans. She rests on the sand, "Fine. I can't believe I'm waiting for _that fool._ "

 _Vrrrmmm_

A car speeds past us. It kicks up a cloud of dust, "Shiro! I made it!" my father's voice shouts from the window. I jump with joy, "Dad! You made it!" Tohru is dumbfounded. She grabs me with her claws and drops on her back. She flies alongside the car, "Is that really you, Takiya?"

Fafnir climbs out the window with the glider in his hands. "Hurry! Take it!" Takiya shouts.

 _Wee Woo Wee Woo_

A squad of police cars follow closely behind. "Cops?!" I stretch my arm toward the glider.

"I may have speeded past a red light!"

Fafnir throws the glider. I catch it with both my hands. The police cars see Tohru's dragon form. The police car in the front brakes at the sight of the dragon in fear.

 _Crash_  
The police cars behind it all crash into each other and spiral off road. Tohru quickly ascends into the sky. As we quickly climb up, I can see my dad waving from the car window, "Good luck, Shiro!"

"Thank you!" I scream over the gust of wind. Tohru and I are above the clouds. She brakes suddenly. I see the setting sun and its orange rays. She descends.

 _Whooosh._

I quickly put on the gliders like a bat. I wear a backpack on my shoulders, "I'm ready, Tohru."

The island is several thousand feet below. The wind smacks into my face, "Argh," I wrap goggles around my glasses. My heart beats like a steady clock. "Now!" I let go of Tohru and extend my arms. I dive straight toward the barrier. Closer…Closer… _Crash_ I smash through the barrier and descend toward the barrier. Kanna, Tohru, and Katori float in the air watching from above.

Kanna's voice speaks in my head, "There should be seals on the island, Shiro! Break them and we can get through!"

I nod. The gap between my and the island is closing in faster than I thought it would take.

"We're counting on you!" Kotori shouts, "So come back alive, okay?"

I pull on a cord attached to my backpack.

 _Fwoop_

A parachute jumps out of the backpack. I descend until my body touches the ground. I look around me.

It looks like I'm on a castle's walls. There is a magic mirror next to me. There are two others. One on my left and the other to my right. "Oops," I push the mirrors over. They fall over and shatter into pieces.

Men run around in panic, "The barrier!"

I see the force field in the skies. The colorful seals fade away and sprinkle rainbow-colored dust down on the castle. Tohru slams dunk on the castle walls, "Now we rescue Lucoa!" A wall of crossbowmen unload their bolts at Kanna. A barrier deflects the crossbow bolts. They fly in opposite directions and collapse like harmless like harmless twigs.

"No one can harm lady Tohru!" Kanna shoots beams of light that sends the soldiers flying like bowling pins, "Shiro, I can sense Lucoa is in the dungeon!"

"Right!" I descend the stairs and force myself through the castle doors. Kotori follows right behind me in her human form, "I have your back, Shiro!" A knight in armor holds up his shield, "Stop!"

Kotori jump-kicks into him.

"Kyah!" he slams against a wall that leaves a crater behind him. We find a pair of stairs and descend into a wet, damp area. At the bottom is a dark hallway lit by torches. There are several jail cells lined in two rows along the walls.

"How am I supposed to find Lucoa in this mess?"

Kotori forces open a cell by bending it with her arms, "Lucoa?"

A girl is sitting on the floor, "Mm…, W-Who is that? Go away!" she lashes out at us and throws a bowl of water at me.

I dodge to the side, "Wait, we came to rescue you. Do you know if they have someone called Lucoa in these cells?"

A woman with blonde hair and closed eyes sticks her head out of the jail cell next to ours, "Did someone say my name?"

Kotori runs over to the cell. She grabs the bars and rips them from its place. She tosses it against the wall oppose of her. _Thoom_

"Lucoa. Tohru and Kanna are here. Can you walk?" she offers to help her up, but she shrugs her off and walks out of the cell, "Did you destroy the barrier on these cells?"

We both nod.

"Wait," the girl limps to us, "Did you say Kanna is here?"

Kotori nods, "Do you know her?"

She nods, "Yeah you could say that. Please, take me to her."

I let her rest on my shoulders, "Yeah. Of course. Let's go."

A man is meditating in the corner of Lucoa's cell, "Let us go then," he finally says.

He stands up and approaches me. This must be Shota.

"Right," I have the girl piggyback on my shoulders, "Up the stairs!"

"No," Shota says. He stomps the ground and we teleport to the castle walls.

Tohru and Kanna are clawing and spitting fire at the guards. The guards cast a magic shield over themselves to protect themselves.

"We found Lucoa and her friends!" I shout to them, "Let's get out of her!"

Just then a flurry of swords get thrown at us. We duck and dodge them.

"You're not going anywhere," Magus walks up the steps. He glares at me. I can feel the hatred emanating from his eyes, "I warned you about causing incidents like this. Now I have to kill you," he draws his staff.

Lucoa turns into a black serpent and carries the prisoners on her back. Shouta stands beside me. There is a fire resting on his palms.

"Take them somewhere safe. We'll buy you some time to escape Lucoa!"

Shouta climbs on Lucoa's back, "Fighting him is dangerous," he says to me, "Are you sure want to face him?"

A barrier forms between me and Magus.

I nod as I clench my fists, "I need to be strong enough to protect my family. This time I _won't_ let anything bad happen to them. I refuse to stand idly by and watch the people I care- no the people I love get hurt!"


	10. Chapter 10

**A Clash between Humans (Can I hold my own against Magus?)**

I can hear the seagulls chirp. The castle walls are charred in black soot. Fires rage down below.

Magus scoffs, "You have some nerve. You should have heeded my warning."

"I can't do that," I clutch on to my sword, "Tohru is family. Without her, I would be alone. I don't want to go back to being alone."

"Shiro," he speaks in a stern voice, "Dragons and humans living together is a crime."

"Then why didn't you kill me before?"

The wind rustles softly…

 _Fwooo_

He shakes his head, "What will Tohru do if she sees you die? She already lost someone dear to her once. Dragons and humans can't be together. Dragons should stay away from Humans."

"Bullshit," I said. I think of the memories I have with Tohru, with Kotori. The times we smiled. The times I cried with them, "I am proof we can live together in peace."

He grabs me, "Not all dragons are like Tohru. What will you do when evil dragons come to harm humans?"

"I'll face them together with my family. Just like I will face you," I reply tactfully.

He holds his staff and channels magic into the staff.

 _Swish_

I brandish my sword.

"I see I can't convince you through words. Then we'll fight to see who is right," he launches magic bolts at me.

 _Fwoop Fwoop Fwoop._

I jump out of the way. "Hyaaahhhh!" he runs at me with the staff and swings.

 _Clang_

I block a direct blow from him. I focus and swing. I strike his staff.

"So you can use magic?" he erects a barrier.

I attack the barrier with my sword.

 _Clang Clang Clang_

I beat against the barrier but can't get through.

A magic bolt hits me. I fall over. He closes in and raises his staff. I roll out of the way. The staff slams into the ground. The ground shakes under me.

"You need to use a spell to attack him!" Kanna shouts.

Tohru is breathing fire against the barrier separating me and Magus from them, "I – I can't get through. Hang in there!"

Magus knocks into me with the butt of his staff.

He jabs at me with the front of his staff,

"Ugh," it hits me in the gut. I put my hand over my gut. An intense shock travels through my body.

"You have improved your fighting skills," Magus compliments, "That's not enough though."

He teleports away from me and charges his magic staff. A flurry of swords rain down on me.

"Shiro!" Tohru screams.

I extend my arms. Energy flows through my hands.

I clap my hands. A shield bubble surrounds me. The swords bounce off me.

I run toward Magus. He raises his staff to block. I close my eyes and focus. I teleport behind him and stab him in the back. It smacks against Magus' force field. I swing wildly at his force field.

 _Ptoom ptoom ptoom_

Magus turns around, "You can't break my shield," He swings at me with his staff. I duck under him and slash at his arms. My sword makes contact with his wrist. The staff flies out of his hand, "What the-"

He casts a fireball spell, but I punch him in the gut. The fireball hits me directly.

 _Ptoom!_

My shield breaks. We both fall off our feet and land on our backsides.

With Magus weakened, Tohru melts through the shield. She changes into human form and shields me, "I won't let you hurt him."

Magus' eyes open wide. He catches his breath, "So you beat me. What now?"

Shouta teleports in front of Magus. He rubs his mage's cloak while towering over him, "You lost, Magus. Don't be a fool. Come with us."

Magus shakes his head, "I can't stay with dragons or traitors."

Shouta slaps him in the face, "Your mother is a dragon, true. That doesn't change anything She _loves_ you," he extends his hand to him.

Magus eyes widen open when Shouta says that. Magus hangs his head in shame, "I can't turn my back on my comrades…but…I- I do want to see her. I want to see my mother again…," he grabs on to Shouta's hand.

Suddenly a gust of wind rips by us. There is a giant crater in the center. In it is a woman wearing a robe. She has a blue fish tail, "Stop!" she shouts.

She holds on to her trident, "The boy is a mage of the Harmony faction. He stays with me!"

"Elma," Tohru says. She looks shocked. She approaches her, "You're _with_ these zealots?!"

I look at the two of them stunned. How do they know each other? As if he read my mind, Shouta explains, "They used to be friends."

…Friends?

The dragon's expression changes. She frowns and sighs, "I'm sorry. But this is the law. Magus cannot live with Lucoa! How many times have I already told you? How many times have you disobeyed me?!"

Tohru lunges at Elma. Elma blocks with her staffs.

"I can't follow your rules, Elma!" Tohru hisses, "You can't separate him from his mother like you did to me and Kobayashi. I won't suffer!"

Elma shifts her body weight against the staff. It slowly pushes Tohru downward, "You'll only make Lucoa suffer. What if he dies? Like Kobayashi? Dragons are better off alone!"

"You sound just like father," Tohru remarks, "she whips Elma with her tail. Elma pushes her feet into the ground and slides a few yards back.

"You're wrong…," Tohru insists, "We can live together. Don't you remember? The time we spent together with the others? Don't you remember how much fun we had together in this world? When we lived with Kobayashi?!"

Tears pour out of Elma's eyes. Her hand shakes. She struggles to hold the trident. She shakes her head, "I do," she nods clenching her fist, "Kobayashi is my friend. You're my friend, Tohru," she sniffs her nose, "I-I don't want to be hurt again…I don't want you to be hurt again…That's why I can't let you live with humans!"

I remember feeling like this when I was younger. I felt the same emotions, like Elma, when I remember my mother's death and the time we were together. At one point, I tried to forget it all.

I told myself those memories needed to be forgotten. It would only hurt me to remember it. I couldn't forget those memories though. They mean a lot to me. They made me happy. They made me who I am.

I watch them fight. They struggle to gain the upper hand over each other. I see blood dripping from their wounds. I'm frozen in my place. I watch them fight. I wonder what should I do? What can I do?

They jump back and then ram into each other. The shockwave causes ripples through the castle. Objects and debris are flown our way. Me, Kotori and Shouta duck. We jump on the floor as debris fly over our heads.

"Elmmaaa," Tohru growls, "she breathes deeply absorbing as much wind as she can. A beam of fire forms at the tip of her mouth.

"Tohruuu!" Elma does the same. As she breathes a giant shard of ice levitates in front of her.

I snap out of my trance, "Do something!" I plead to Shouta." He stands quietly beside me and doesn't respond. Everyone is watching them attempt to kill each other. Why isn't anyone doing anything?!

I grab Kotori and shake her, "Kotori. Do something!"

She stares at them fighting. When I shake her she snaps out of it, "I- I don't know how!" she cries.

She looks scared. That's when I notice we're both shaking uncontrollably. I let go of her and run down the stairs to where they are fighting in the courtyard. Friends... Friends don't fight each other…Not like this.

Elma and Tohru land on the ground. I force myself to move. I run toward them. Elma and Tohru breath in fire. I jump in between them. "Nooo!" I let out a bloodcurdling scream. They let loose their attacks. Time slows down. I cast the strongest shield I can to absorb the blow.

 _BOOM!_

The shield absorbs the intense flame and chill of their attacks before breaking. Their magic attacks hit me. The intense energy of the blow hits me. The pain travels all throughout my body.

I'm on the floor. I see the sky above me. I can't move my body. I notice I'm bleeding. Is this it…?

I'm going to die…Kotori runs to my side and grabs me, "Please…don't close your eyes," she begs.

Despite her begging, despite her crying I shut my eyes.

I wake up in a meadow. Am I…dead?

The wind rustles the leaves. There's a soft blanket lying on the grass. Picnic bento boxes and some plates lay on the floor. I see someone sitting there. A woman with red hair. She turns around, "Shiro?" I instantly recognize who it is. It's my mom.

I run as fast as I can to her. I jump into her welcoming arms. She lifts me into the air and swings me around before setting me down on the ground, "Mom…Mom…I-"

"It's okay," she pats me on the back, "I miss you, too."

She puts food on both our plates. She begins to pray. I reach for my food but she slaps me on the wrist.

"Shiro. That's bad table manners!" she scolds.

"Sorry…Tohru didn't teach me table manners," I say as I pray with her.

She nods, "That Tohru still has a lot to learn if she wants to be a good mother."

I reach for my plate of spicy curry and meat with rice.

When we finish our dinner, we sit together looking at the sky.

I think for a second. What should I say? There are many things I wanted to say. I wanted to tell her what I have been doing. I wanted to tell her about Tohru. Then I remember the fight with Tohru and Elma.

"M-M-mom…Ab-About Tohru…," I stutter.

She hushes me, pulling me closer to her. My head rests on her lap. I look up at her.

"Ah…yes. Tohru. She feels so guilty for what happened. It's not her fault though. She's too hard on herself, y'know…Like a certain someone," she looks at me, winking. Her fingers run along my hair.

I yawn, "I tried to stop her from fighting, mom. I tried my hardest to help her. I tried to help her move on…B-But every time I try I fail!" I cry.

She comforts me and whispers, "You didn't fail. Tohru won't admit it, but ever since you met her, I can feel how grateful she is to spend every moment with you…I can feel how happy she is to raise a boy like you…"

 _Gong…Gong…_

A loud clock goes off in the distance.

"Mom…What is that?"

She pulls me up. A portal opens, "I'm sorry, Shiro. I used up all my magic. I have to send you back.

My heart skips. I hold on to her and refuse to let go. My head shakes furiously, "No. Don't tell me- I-I have to leave?" my eyes are watery.

"Tohru and Elma need you now. Please tell them…It's not their fault. Tell them they're family now. When it's their time to pass away I'll see them here again," she says this with a painful smile.

"Wait…so that means I'm-"

"Almost dead," she finishes, "I can sense the others are using all their magic to bring you home."

In the distance, I hear feint voices.  
"Come back, bro! We need you!"

"Shiro! Let's go home! Please…open your eyes!"

She gently directs me toward the portal, "They need you, Shiro. Please help heal our broken family."

I step through the portal. The world turns white as if someone painted over everything. I look back at my mother, "I'll do everything to make you proud mom."

She kisses me on the forehead, "That's not necessary…you already have."

 _Whooosh_

I wake up. My heart is beating like crazy, "Ack..Ack…Ack..."

Kotori's lips are touching mine. She's trying to give me CPR, "Argh, What's going on?!"

"Shiro you're alive!"

Elma and Tohru lift me up.

"You're…okay," Elma sighs in relief.

I nod. I notice they are smiling at each other.

"You're not fighting. Why?"

Tohru grabs me, "Geez. Don't make us worry like that again."

Elma laughs, "You should have saw us. She was crying and using all her magic to heal you."

Tohru gives Elma a noogie.

"H-hey, stop!" Elma squeals.

"Yeah?! If I recall you were bawling your eyes, too! You were screaming sorry over and over to me!"

She shakes her head. Her face is bright red, "N-No I wasn't!"

I wrap my hands around both of them, "Thank you."

They both turn red when I say that.

"I was with Kobayashi," I added, "She told me It isn't your fault. She doesn't want to see her family hurt each other. Elma, too."

Tohru and Elma look on dumbfounded, but nod.

"Yeah…that sounds like lady Kobayashi…," Tohru pats Elma on the back, "I'm sorry…"

Elma shakes her head, "It can't be helped I suppose," she fakes disinterest.

"Let's go home," I said.

I climb on Tohru's back. She takes off with me. The others fly alongside us home. To where we belong.

I take in my surroundings. This world really is beautiful. I think about my mother and what she said. A warm feeling comes over me.

A feeling that I had not felt in a long time. So this is what peace feels like.

 **Author's Note: To everyone who have made it this far, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the story so far. I'm going to slow the pace of the story down to a much needed crawl and focus on each of the characters. They deserve to rest and have time to themselves after all!**


	11. Chapter 11

Time Alone(With friends and family)

 _Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…_

I wake up in my bed, "Argh."

"Zzz," Kotori is sleeping next to me.

Where am I? Oh right. I'm in bed trying to heal from my wounds. I can barely move in bed. My arms are numb.

It's been two months since I broke up the fight between Tohru and Elma.

"Shiro," she wakes up. Her orange eyes glow in the dark, "Are you worried about Elma and Tohru?"

"No," I reply. It was a lie. Not too long ago they were fighting each to the death.

"Shiro," she puts her finger on my forehead, "I know you're worried about them. I can hear your heart

beating like crazy."

"Sorry," I manage to say, "I can't help, but get worried. I can't get out of bed. I want to get out of bed, I

want to know how everyone is doing!"

The door creaks open. It's Lucoa, "Ah. Are you awake again?"

"Yeah," I look at the cast on my arms and legs," I stretch a bit.

Kotori gets up out bed yawning, "Hyahh…Don't push yourself, Shiro."

The fireplace snaps and pops. I feel the warmth of the fire.

"I know," I lean back and look at the ceiling. Lucoa stands at my bedside and casts a soothing aura over

me, "Remember what Tohru said? I'm to heal you every morning with magic until you fully recover.

I nod. Since the fight Tohru has been tending to more important things. It used to be us three, but ever

since we rescued the others, the size of our family is much huger. So huge in fact, that Lucoa, Shouta,

and Magus moved into the room next to us. "Finished!" Lucoa shouts. She kneels beside me, "How does

it feel?"

I stretch my arms, "Hey, I can move again…," I say with a tired voice.

Kotori lets me climb on her back. She carries me outside. She puts me down.

"Where is Elma?" I ask.

Lucoa sighs, "She went back to the knights. She says she needs time to repeal some laws and convince

them to leave us alone."

"It can't be helped. I hope she can convince them to change their minds about us," I breath in the fresh

air. Kotori sits beside me, "Did you finish the assignments?" she asks me. Since I'm at home she's been retrieving papers from the teacher and sending my homework assignments back to me. Luckily, I finished all of them. It was tough though. I missed so much school and I'm behind by a couple chapters. This time Kotori and Lucoa are helping me with the assignments. Ironic, since not too long ago I was helping her with her homework.

She chuckles, thinking the same thing I am, "Guess we're even. You helped me understand the material and now I'm helping you."

"Don't get cocky," I mutter, "I'm much better. I can go back to school."

Lucoa thinks, "But the exam is in a few weeks."

I groan, "Dammit, I've been in bed for the past two months. I need to catch up. Quickly."

I hear Tohru's voice, "It can't be helped. You did absorb an attack from both Elma and Tohru, after all," she descends the stairs.

I fidget, "The last thing I want to do is to repeat classes again."

Tohru pets me on the head, "Kanna and the others agreed to help you."

I relax my shoulders. Oh that's right. Kanna goes to school with me, too.

Tohru shoos me and Kotori away, "Go. You have school, both of you."

I practice walking to school for the next couple days. Kotori walks slowly so I can catch up to her.

My feet hurt just a little bit. I take a step forward with my left foot and then my right.

Each day, I get better at it.

Kotori claps quietly while and gives me words of encouragement each time.

Around the fourth day of walking I catch up to her. At that point I no longer needed a cane or her to help me up.

Kotori runs to the school with me right behind her, "It took you long enough. I was afraid Lucoa would take forever to heal you!"

"Finally. That's one problem I need to worry about. Now about that exam," I jog alongside her.

Kotori shrugs, "You're a genius, right? Shouldn't it be easy for you?"

"It's not that simple," I reply.

The moment we walked into the classroom everyone's heads turn to us entering the room.

"Ah, welcome back, Shiro. Congratulations on your speedy recovery. Please take a seat while we review the material," the teacher points to the seats.

Once we're seated he writes the material on the board. We watch carefully and listen. We understand some parts of the lesson and were confused with other parts of it. Time flew by quickly, and before I knew it we were on lunch break. "Let's eat on the roof like last time," she grabs my hand and pulls.

I run with her through the hallway and up the stairs. We swing open the door to see Kanna eating. Next to her is the girl I rescued from prison. She runs to me, "It's you. My name is Saikawa I wanted to say thanks for rescuing me."

I scratch my head and turn the other direction. Modestly, I say, "It's nothing. Really. I only wanted to help someone in need."

She pauses as if confused by my reply. Her confusion turns to laughter, "Hahha. I get it. You're modest. You must be Kanna's friend, right?"

Kanna shakes her head, "No. We are acquaintances."

She puts her hand on my shoulder, "I see. Thank you. It's because of you I can see my dear friend, Kanna again. Thank you, Shiro. If you ever need anything let me know. I have to return the favor after all."

Repay the favor? In that moment, something did come to mind. Something she could help me with.

"Could you possibly help me catch up on my studies. The exams are coming up, soon."

She jumps up in excitement, "Ah, yes that's right," she looks at Kanna, "Kanna-san didn't you say I have to catch up on my studies, too?"

She lays on the floor. In a monotone voice she says, "Studies? Yes. You haven't been in school for a long time, Saikawa."

We all huddle together, "Then it's settled. We're going to study together," Saikawa raises her fist in the air.

After school, we sat in a room together and studied. Saikawa was nodding off. Her eyes open and shut. Kotori is on the floor, yawning. We've been rushing through three out of the five chapters that I missed after the battle between Elma and Tohru. I slam the table, "Wake up! These chapters are important and you're not taking it seriously.

"But it's boring," Saikawa whined.

Kotori rolls around. She lies on her belly and flips through the book, skimming whatever information she can. I turn to Kanna. She silently reads each page and rushes through her assignments without even saying a word. Is she getting the answers right? I lean over her shoulder and scan through the pages. I can't believe it. My eyes open wide. I'm stunned. She got every question right.

"Kanna," I snap my fingers, "You're good at this. Please help us."

She reads through the book, "On one condition."

"What do you want?" I tilt my head.

She shuts the book with both her hands, "Buy me sweets."

Sweets? That's an odd request for a high school student. That sounds like something an 8-year-old would request. I shrug it off and dig into my pockets. I see that I have some money. An allowance from Tohru. Please don't be expensive, I pray.

"Fine, I'll buy you sweets. In return, you help us pass the class so we don't have to repeat it."

Kanna shakes my hand, "Deal."

She bonks Kotori on the head hard. The force causes the floor to rumble.

"Ow," Kotori rubs her head, "Why'd you that?!" she flails her arms.

"You're not paying attention," she responds. She looks at Saikawa.

"Zzz," Saikawa snores loudly.

Kanna licks her on the face. She wakes up immediately. Her face is red as magma and she shouts, "Kyaaaahhh!" she rolls on the floor. My jaw is wide open, "What was that?"  
Kanna pets her, Saikawa mews like a kitten, "She does that a lot when I was eight. It's just like old times," she nods.

I groan. Deeply disturbed by the noises she makes, I beg Kanna not to do that again.

"Please don't make her do that…It's…weird," I manage to say.

Kanna puts on a serious face, "Let's begin."

I grab my laptop. The camera on the front flashes on and projects a PDF of my textbook to the wall. Kanna puts on a teacher outfit and glasses. She walks up to the front with flashcards in her hand.

"Kanna-sensei…You look good in that outfit," Saikawa moans. Kanna bonks her on the head with a yard stick.

"Bad, bad, bad!"

"I'm sorrryy!" Saikawa rubs her head.

Kanna reads the flash cards (Flash cards I wrote).

"Evening class, we're going to be learning…," she flips through her flashcards, "Calculus."

I nod at Kanna. She continues. We flip through the lesson. I draw visual examples and Kanna explains how to do them. We gather around a textbook and talk about how to approach the problems. Saikawa rubs her cheek against Kanna's shoulder. Saikawa gets sent to the corner. Kotori looks at the window. Kanna ties Kotori to a chair and forces her to look at the presentation.

"No distractions!" Kanna shouts.

I look at the calendar. It says Monday. I worried. This could take several days. It can't be helped. We'll just have to struggle through every subject until it's time for the exam.

 **Tuesday**

Next subject is literature. We're sitting together, reading Shakespeare.

"This is kind of hard to understand," Kotori mutters.

I nod, "Yeah. They have weird accents. Don't worry, you just need to remember the plot.

"Oh," Kotori rubs her chin with her finger in deep thought, "I can do that!"

Saikawa is giggling, "Romeo and Juliet," I can see her lewd face, daydreaming about some weird situation with Kanna.

Kanna rips the page out and throws it into the trash, "Wrong story!"

 **Wednesday**

Kotori lights the fireplace for us. We're working on science.

"And that's how gravity works," Kanna explains, pointing at complicated physics formulas.

"Hey, this isn't that hard," Kotori smiles, "We should be able to pass this exam no problem."

I nod in agreement. We have a few more days. I feel like I already studied everything I need to know for the exam.

 **Thursday**

We review everything we learned through flashcards. Kanna aces every question. Kotori completes an average amount. Saikawa drools. That girl has issues. I guess being alone in a cell does that to people. I look at her results. Afraid to see the amount of errors on her answers, I hold my breath. I'm dumbfounded, she passed. Barely, but she passed. Did she study really the whole time?! I only saw her daydreaming for the past couple of days.

"Exams are on Friday and Saturday," Kanna stretches her arm and yawns quietly.

I smile with anticipation. I slam my books shut and rest on the couch. Kanna stares at me.

"Hmmm…."

"Yes?" I open one of my eyes.

"Sweets. I want them. After the exam."

I sigh. Please don't make me buy anything expensive. Please don't buy anything expensive.

Friday morning, we meet up at the front gate of the school.

"Good luck, everyone."

Kotori looks like she could jump with joy, "This'll be easy, Shiro. Let's make bets. We owe a favor for the person with the highest score!"

I step back, waving my hands to show her I'm not interested in betting, "That's too much. Shouldn't the satisfaction of passing be enough?"

"Pfft. Boring," Kotori smirks.

"Yeah! Let's make a bet," Saikawa chimes in.

Kanna holds Saikawa's hand, "Yes. Let's make a bet, together."

"Kyaaahhh!," Saikawa squeals.

I sigh and admit defeat, "Alright."

We head to class. The teacher hands out our exams and I quietly get to work. I can't let them beat me I think to myself. The first subject is literature. I recognize a lot of the questions from studying with Kanna and the others. The questions ask me to go into detail about the meaning and plot devices Shakespeare's stories use. I give a two-page response to each question, mentioning the philosophies and cultural norms during the setting of his stories. I flip to the next part is science. Fortunately, I memorized all the formulas for physics and chemistry. The only challenging part about this section is determining which formulas to use for which questions. Once I figured that out I went through each question in under 10 minutes. I defeated the exam, crushing it within 2 hours. I lean in my chair and take a nap.

On Saturday, the results displayed for everyone to see. Kotori, Kanna, and Saikawa beat me to the boards. They search for their names. "No way!" Kotori punches the wall.

"H-H-How did they get that scoooore?" Saikawa stutters.

Did I win? I look at the board and my jaw drops. Kanna beat all of us. Me, Kotori, and Saikawa had the same score. Kanna's score was only 1 point higher. Dammit.

"I won the bet. You all have to buy me sweets."

"O-Of course Kanna san!" Saikawa sighs deeply, letting her thoughts wander.

Me and Kotori look at her and then each other before letting out a deep groan, "Fine," we both say at the same time.

We go to the shopping mall and buy her all the sweet she wants to eat.

"Crap," I look at my empty wallet, "This food sure is expensive…"

She gobbles down the food in front of us callously. Our stomachs rumble.

"Kanna…do you really have to do this in front of us?" I ask her.

She stops chewing on her food, "Well…You can have some," she offers a portion of her meal.

"haha…Thanks Kanna!"

The four of us dig in.

"Om nom, nom, om."

Food gets on our clothes. We ordered a large amount, so large that it takes up the entire table. People who are relaxing at the tables stop chatting with their friends to watch us go through an entire month's work of food. They stare. Horrified by the amount of food we can stuff down our mouths. A clique of girls cover their eyes.

"Hah…," I rub my full belly, "We passed!" I hold up a bottle of chocolate milkshake.

"With your help, big bro, and Kanna," Kotori acknowledges toasting me.

 _Gulp Gulp Gulp_

By the time, we finish it is getting late.

"Urggh," I look at the time and jump out of my seat, "Dammit!"

"Hmm?" Saikawa wakes up from napping.

"We have to get home. It's almost curfew time!"

"Dammit!" Kotori grabs us.

We run out of the mall.

"Come on fly!"

Kotori and Kanna change into fat dragons and flap their wings. Saikawa and me ride on their backs. However, because they ate so much, their flying speed is severely hindered.

"C'mon. Faster!" I shout.

"I'm trying!" Kotori whines.


	12. Chapter 12

**Post-Traumatic (A prison sentence can do horrible things to your mind)**

 **Author's Note: Some of you may be wondering why Saikawa and Kanna are young after so many years. This chapter explains why she is so young.**

 **I'm also having trouble with the story's format. Let me know if it's hard to read.**

I saw snow for the first time this winter. It was during the morning when I went to dispose of the trash.

 _Crunch Crunch_

Kotori crushes the snowflakes under her, "Winter…," steam comes out from her mouth.

She gives me a slight punch, "So. What will we do?"

"For Christmas?" I pace back and forth in the snow, "Spend that time with friends, of course."

I hear commotion, something like shouting coming from the apartment room next to us.

"You hurt her!" Kanna shouts.

Without saying anything, both me and Kotori run upstairs.

Kanna and Magus are glaring at each other. They looked like samurai ready to duel, or maybe cowboys

in a standoff.

"Magus. You're back," I step in between her and Kanna, "Care to explain what's going on here?"

He shrugs, "She's mad that I imprisoned her friend."

Kanna's pupils change she readies her fist, "He tortured her. Kept her in a cell."

Lucoa puts her hands on Lucoa, "Kanna. Stop. It's no big deal."

Kotori points at Magus, "If you're going to stay here, you can at least _try_ to care."

"You shouldn't have come back," Kanna growls. She heads down the stairs.

Magus looks disinterested and annoyed. He looks at the floor.

"What the hell," I snap my fingers, "She said something about torture. What torture? She looks fine to me. Still cheerful."

Magus shrugs again.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

He lets out a sigh, "Do you want to know why she's mad? Fine," he flips open a book with a full

biography on Saikawa.

"Saikawa met Kanna at age eight. Exactly twenty years ago."

"Your math is wrong," I joke, "She's 14."

"I didn't get that wrong. It's twenty."

I freeze. I look at him. He might be faking his serious expression. His eyes look plain. His lip isn't smirking

or moving at all. He's serious.

"What did you do to her?" I grab him by the shoulders.

"I didn't kill your mother when I fought her for the first time. Did you notice? She broke the law. Fought

me. But I spared her. Do you know why?"

"Because you're a kind and merciful person?" I say sarcastically.

This time he laughs a little, "No. We rarely do executions. We usually do life sentences. Forever."

"Until they die?" I sit down interested in what he's saying.

"No," he goes into detail, "We keep people in stasis cells. They're very simple. The person who is behind

the cells will not age. Not even by a day. They're stuck there. Forever and ever -"

I shake my head. The thought of being stuck in the same room forever disturbs me, "No more."

"I didn't finish," he continues, "They have to eat and sleep. So, we give them just

a little bit of food so they can keep going. Oh, and water. A person left alone like that has no one to talk

to-"

"Stop!" I shake him, but he shrugs me off.

"But there's more," he grabs me and pushes me against the wall. Kotori rushes to my side, but is blocked off by a barrier, "They think and think about everything all at once. Family, friends, home. That's

when they fall into a coma. Saikawa probably remembers nothing."

"Amnesia?" I ask.

Magus shakes his head, "No. She doesn't want to remember. She still thinks she's a little girl."

I glare at him, "Why did you come back, you monster?"

He sighs, "I thought Saikawa is just another criminal. But I read the files. They're very close. Like sisters.

Her only crime was confessing love to Kanna."

"Now that you know. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know, yet," he lets me go and puts his hands over his forehead in shame.

"Hahah..," I chuckle a bit. I clutch my side, "You don't even know how to make up for it. Then… maybe…

should have thought about that before you-!"

 _SMACK_

Lucoa slaps me. I rub the bruise on my cheek.

"You will not talk to my son like that, ever."

"Lucoa…What was that for?"

Lucoa grabs Magus and my hand and then pulls us closer, "That's in the past. Magus isn't a mage for the

Knights anymore. Let's start over. Starting today you are going out together," she writes down a list of

activities for us to do.

The first activity is to go out to eat. We sit in a table for four at the nearest fast-food restaurant.

The food on the plate is getting cold. Saikawa digs in. Kotori is looking out the window. I sit to her right.

I poke my burger with my fork.

"So…," Saikawa speaks with her mouth full and points to Magus, "Who is he?"

Kanna thinks of something to say, "Ohh…That is...Magatsuchi. It's the same boy we used to play with

when we were eight!" Kanna lied to Saikawa. I hope she knows what she's doing. I forgave Tohru for

doing the same thing. But not everyone is patient like me. Saikawa could snap if she found out.

"Ohh, you're taller. More handsome, too" Saikawa looks at him googly-eyed, "Oh excuse me. I have to go to the restroom."

She runs off and it's now the three of us.

"He's the complete opposite of Shouta!" I point out.

"What should Kanna say?" Kotori sighs, "Hey. This man put you in jail for most of your life!"

I shake my head, "It doesn't feel right. We should just tell her the truth."

Magus shrugs, "Whatever. Let's just finish this list."

"Agreed," Kanna drags me away to somewhere private. She takes me outside the restaurant and pushes

me into an alley. She looks at me with her blank eyes, "About Saikawa."

I nod, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes," she says.

She's quiet for a few seconds.

"So," I whisper, "You knew lady Tohru, right?"

She nods.

"You knew where she was for the past 20 years."

She nods.

"Why didn't you live with her?"

Kanna shakes her head, "It's…Complicated."

"We have time," I pet her on the head.

"I…I left. To live with her. This was before…Kobayashi died. They took her away from me. I tried to break

through the barrier alone. That is until I met you," she pauses and licks me on the face.

"Hey. What that was for? Ugh," I wipe the saliva off my face.

"Dragon saliva kills bacteria. Keep it. It's a sign of my gratitude," she looks at the restaurant front door.

I smile at her. She looks at me puzzled. I remember what Magus said. They're not friends. They're lover. I wonder why I never noticed before?

"Y'know. We don't have to finish the list. We could bring her to the movies. Maybe teach her dancing

lessons."

Kanna wags her tail. She casts a spell on me. I look at my body and see that I'm transparent.

"What did you do to me?" I touch myself to see I'm still solid.

"Perception blocking. I can't let Saikawa see you," she leads me through the back door. She hides behind

a corner and whispers, "Psst. Saikawa." Saikawa sees Kanna and walks over to her, "Hmm?" she

whispers back. She holds Saikawa's hand. Her face lights up like a lamp. Kanna quickly covers Saiakwa's

mouth.

"Mmf-Mmf-mmff!"

We sneak her to a movie. "Hmm?" Saikawa looks behind her, "Kanna. What about our friends? The ones

who helped me escape?"

Kanna shrugs, "Oh. They went home."

"Ahh!" Saikawa looks around her, "This is just like old times, Kanna. Remember? When we went to

movies together when we were 12? They said we weren't old enough. So we snuck in!" Saikawa giggles.

Kanna points to the movie she wants to see. Looks like only Kanna can see me. She wants to see that

horror movie. I grab some money out of my pocket and leave it in her pocket. I swear, she's going to

bankrupt me. The whole three hours I sit there watching Kanna and Saikawa gasp at tense scenes and

scream when the monster reveals itself. How does anyone get scared by this? I think to myself. It's just

CGI.

Saikawa laughs when the movie is over, "It's as if nothing changed…How long have I been gone, Kanna?"

"Only a few months," she lies.

"Ah. That's good. When we come home, let's meet Lucoa. She's nice. Maybe we could have sleepover

with Shouta!"

Sweat pours down Kanna's forehead, "Oh. Shouta is busy tonight. He…failed his exam. He has to study."

"Ohh…," Saikawa frowns, "It can't be helped. Where should we go now?"

I whisper, "Go to the mall."

Kanna nods.

At the mall, they go shopping for clothes. They put on every. Single. Piece. Of clothing.

I try not to fall asleep, but I fail. I was about to snore when I received a hard punch in the shoulder from

Kanna, "Ow-," I cover my mouth so I don't scream. They look through the maid outfits and find three

different outfits. Saikawa examines each one closely.

"Hmm. Hmm. Kanna-san. These outfits look perfect for Georgie. In fact, where is she? She must be

worried sick," Saikawa holds the maid outfit closely with a teary-eyed expression. Kanna caresses her.

"Ehh?" Saikawa says surprised.

"We'll see Georgie again. But we need to careful. The knights are still looking for us. When the coast is \

clear. We'll see her. I promise."

"Kanna-san…," she whispers, "Thank you…"

I look at my watch and gesture to Kanna. It's time…

It's nighttime. They're walking home with me following quietly behind.

They're sitting on the floor of their bedroom. It's dark and there's no lights. It's a quiet place. A perfect

place for a couple. There's a bottle of Sake. I picked it myself. For Kanna. Luckily, Tohru still has some

alcohol from Kobayashi. I pray that Tohru doesn't find out that she is missing one battle of Sake. If she

does, she will most likely execute me.

Kanna and Saikawa take turns sipping a cup of Sake. It only took two rounds for them to be completely

drunk. I sigh. This could only end horribly.

"Are you shure, Kobayashi doesn't mind?" Saikawa sways back and forth.

"Yeah…She's workhing."

"Hehhe…," Saikawa giggles. She runs to the rooftop of the apartment.

Kanna runs after her.

"You can't catch me, you can't catch me," she teases Kanna.

Saikawa trips, "Whoa-"

Kanna jumps in time to catch her. She lands gently into Kanna's warm hands.

Kanna gives me a glare. "Fine" I whisper. I turn around so they can have privacy.

"Y'know. When I was in the cell…I was always thinking of you," Saikawa's voice mutters.

"I was thinking of you, too," Kanna nods.

I take just a little peak. Their faces are pressed against each other. Saikawa's eyes are shut. Kanna waves

me away. Ashamed and flustered I turn the other way, fighting back my urge to watch.

 _Chu..Chu_

I hear their kissing. I close my eyes shut. Don't look, don't look, don't look.

When it's over I hear Kanna laugh, "Hahah…You taste like Sake."

"You, too," Saikawa puts her hand on Kanna's cheek.

They walk back to their apartment room.

Lucoa and Magus are standing outside the apartment room next to theirs.

"Hey!" Saikawa waves to Magus, "Shouta. Sorry about leaving you and I know you're busy, but do you

want to hang out with us tomorrow?"

Shouta walks outside the apartment, "How am I busy?"

Saikawa looks at Shouta confused, "I thought…I thought he's Shouta," she points at Magus.

"Saikawa…," Magus says her name nervously. Lucoa gets closer, offering to comfort Saikawa, "Saikawa.

Did Kanna not tell you?"

"T-Tell me what?!" she shouts.

"Saikawa. You're not 14. You're actually-"

"Stop!" Kanna begs.

Saikawa clenches her fist, "I'm actually what? I'm actually what?!"

"You're 34," Lucoa finishes.

Saikawa turns to Kanna horrified, "You lied to me. Didn't you?"

"Saikawa…I…," she stutters at a loss for words.

"Everything you said is a lie? I've been gone for 20 years. Tell me. What happened to Georgie? What

happened to my mom?!"

Kanna slowly steps back. Saikawa grabs her, "What happened to them, kanna?!"

"In prison," Magus answers.

Saikawa punches Magus in the stomach. He lets himself get hit. He watches her do it without

responding.

"Who are you?!" Saikawa shakes him.

"The prison you were in preserves your age. You've been asleep for twenty years. I'm…," he stops for a

second before finishing his sentence. There's a deep feeling of pain in the way he says it, "I put you

there."

"You put me there…My family, too?! Bring them back!"

For once, his cool guy demeanor is gone. I can see the sadness in his face. The guilt in his eyes. He

speaks slowly, struggling to breath, "I can't. I don't know where they are. I'm sorry."

She rattles her fist, "To hell with your apologies!" she runs in the opposite direction of Magus, bumping

into Kanna.

"Saikawa…," Kanna whispers her name.

"You seduced me. You…dragon."

Kanna extends her arms toward Saikawa. She tries to comfort her, but Saikawa slaps Kanna, "Get away

from me!" she runs off. She runs down the stairs and disappears from our sight. Shouta approaches

Kanna.

"I thought you already told her. I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"…It can't be helped, "Kanna lets out a sniff.

"This is my fault," Magus says, "I was the one that sent here there," he grabs his tome, "I'll find her. I

will."

Lucoa steps in front of Magus and speaks, "This isn't something we can fix by finding Saikawa, dear."

"But…It's my fault. I have to do something!" he insists.

"We don't know where she's going. Even if we found her we can't make her go back."

Magus growls, "Urggh!" he punches the wall. He falls down and covers his face in shame.

Lucoa wraps her arms around him and whispers in a soothing voice, "Shh..Shh…It'll be okay."

Shouta kneels beside Magus, petting the boy on his head. I thought he was some emotionless

jerk. Some guy who tries to be cool and doesn't care about other people. Yet seeing in him a such a

vulnerable position, he looks just as young as Saikawa or Kanna. Just as weak as them.

The perception blocking spell that was covering my body vanishes. I appear in front of everyone.

Kotori stands at the top of the stairs, "There you are where have you been?" I run past her.

"Shiro? Shiro?!" I hear her fading voice shout behind me. I run after Saikawa. I stop in the alleyways.

Nothing. Where could she be? I run all over the block. I go back to the places we were at. At the

restaurant, it was empty. The place was closed. How about the movies? Nothing. Only adults were lined

up to watch the movies. I couldn't recognize anyone that looked like Saikawa.

The last place I check is the mall. Empty. Like the other locations.

"Hah…Hah…," I catch my breath. My feet are too weak to run so I collapse on my knees, "Ack…," I  
cough.

Tohru swoops down from above and lands beside me.

"Tohru! Have you seen Saikawa. She-"

Tohru hushes me and pulls me closer, "I know," she says.

"Mom…We have to find her," I plead.

"We can't."

"Why?!" I shout.

"She's gone. I saw her leave the subway. She's too far away now for us to find her. She's after her

family."

I breathe heavily, "But- But mom. This isn't right. We can't let her leave."

"We have to," she replies sternly, "If I went missing. You wouldn't stop until you found me."

"But Kanna…"

"Kanna has to trust her. She must let go of her and hope she'll be okay. That's the only thing she can

do."

I pass out at that exact moment. When I wake up I find Kotori sitting beside me, "I know what

happened. It's not right."

"What can I do?" I shrug. I walk out of the room.

"Bro!" she looks at me with worried eyes.

I lie down on top of the roof and watch the stars. This is so messed up. Just when I think everything is

okay, I have to watch people around me suffer again. I let my thoughts wander. Maybe it's better living

alone. Love just makes things complicated. People will only get hurt.


	13. Chapter 13

Blissful Memories (Kotori's Childhood Bliss)

I lay in my bed awake the whole night. Thinking. It's been a few days since Saikawa left. Kanna refuses to leave her room. Can I blame her? No. I can't. Love is complicated. I press snooze on my alarm clock and crawl out of bed. I put on my clothes. I have at least a month of time to myself. No school. I should be happy that I don't have to go to school. I can relax and work on my computer. I don't feel like it thought. My mood for programming or working on inventions is non-existent. Kotori folds and hangs out the clothes to dry outside. She sees me and runs to my side, "Shiro?"

I sigh and walk past her. She grabs me by the hand, "Shiro. Don't leave. Please," she pulls me closer.

"I'm sorry. I just want to be alone."

I notice how tall Kotori is compared to me. She towers over me by a few feet. She pulls me close to her chest. Her heart is beating, "Shiro. It's not your fault."

"I know," I let out another sigh. She pets me, "Shiro. Cheer up. You've been through worse," she gives me a soft punch on the shoulder.

I nod, "Yeah," I look at her chest, blushing. "I'm sorry. Could you please let go…It looks suspicious for a brother and sister to be so close together. She immediately lets go, "Sorry. Sorry. I-I got carried away,"

"What about Kanna?"

"Kanna is resting. She needs some space. For now, let's just take our mind off Kanna and Saikawa. Okay?"

She opens the door to my bedroom and looks outside. The living room is dirty. There are clothes everywhere and the dishes haven't been cleaned, "We need to clean this mess up before mom comes home."

"I'm not very good at-"she drags me before I can object to cleaning the living room.

I rinse the dishes with water and douse them in soap.

 _Lick lick_

She goes through the laundry with her dragon tongue.

We clean my room for a few minutes then focus on Kotori's room. When that is done, we approach the door to Tohru's room.

"Maybe we should ask Tohru," I hold my hand on the door knob indecisively.

"Nah," Kotori opens the door wide open for me. The lights in the room are still on, but there is no sign of Tohru. We cautiously enter. Inside is her queen-sized bed. There are pictures of Kobayashi hanging from the wall. At the back of the room is a shut closet door. Light is pouring out through the cracks underneath it. When I reach for the door knob I feel a draft brushing against my skin.

 _Creeaak._

A flash of light blinds me. When my eyes recover, I see a purple crystal on the floor.

Kotori holds it in her eyes and examines it.

"Kotori we shouldn't be touching Tohru's things," I touch the crystal, but Kotori pulls the crystal away from me.

"I feel something. Familiar about this crystal," she rubs it furiously.

 _Pzzzttt_

 _Ptoom_

The crystal blows up, everything is white. When I come to I'm outside. Lying down in the grass.

Kotori is lying beside me.

A blushing lady is standing in front of us. She is in a maid outfit. Her hair is red and her eyes were blue as the ocean. She looks down on us with her hands on her hips.

"Well, Well. Looks like you've been sleeping again, Kotori," she pulls Kotori up.

I get up, "Thanks."

The lady doesn't make eye contact with me, "Huh?" I look at my body and see I'm transparent. A perception blocking spell? No way. Can't be right.

"Huh…," Kotori gives a confused glance at the lady and me. It looks like Kotori can see me.

I look back at her and shrug. Must be some sort of spell. Or maybe this woman mistook her for someone else. I look around me. I can't recognize any landmarks or roads. I guess, we teleported.

"No time for lollygagging. We should hurry and get going," she takes us to a manor on a rolling green hill. Roses sprout from the meadow as far as the eye can see.

She gives Kotori a good scolding at the front door, "What did I say about wandering off, Kotori? Next time make sure that doesn't happen _until_ you finish your chores," she leaves us two alone.

Kotori digs into her pockets and searches the area around her, "The crystal…"

"It's gone. I guess we're going to be stuck here for a while," I sit down. My heart sinks while I fidget.

"Are you doing the chores, Kotori?"

We notice a bucket with wet clothes in it. We decide it would be a clever idea not to anger the lady.

We hang the clothes out to dry in the sun. The breeze tickles my sides.

The lady from before comes and gives both of us a pat on the back, "Good work, Kotori. Remember father should be coming home today."

 _Clop Clop Clop Clop_

Some servants run out of the manor. A carriage drawn by horses stops in front of the manor. The carriage door swings open and a man in a dark suit comes out.

"Miss Rosie," a servant says to the lady in the maid outfit, "It's master Stephan."

Rosie walks over to Stephan. She gestures for her to follow

"I'm home. This time I brought something special," he holds up a spell-book.

"Wow. What is that?" Kotori touches the book.

"Now, hold on," Stephan pulls book away. It's not a toy."

"Dinner is ready," Rosie interrupts.

Stephan nods. He brings us inside the manor to the dinner hall. There's a large table that stretches 12 yards. The room is barely large enough to fit us all. We eat together.

I whisper to Kotori, "Where are we? It can't be our world. I don't see any roads and people are still using horses like it's the middle ages."

"I know. Yet...," she pauses. She takes in the scenery. She breathes in the air blissfully, "This place feels…so familiar."

I think. Could this be her home? If so, where is Tohru? When we finish eating they send us to a bedroom on the third floor. Inside is a room full of toys and books scattered all over the floor.

"I remember this. This is my room," Kotori picks up a doll, "This is Georgie! My favorite doll."

"Do you know where we are?"

Kotori eyes open wide. She runs to the window and opens it. She points outside. I look through the window. What I see surprises me. There isn't _the_ moon. It's several moons littered across the night sky.

Dragons fly across the sky. I hear their distant roars over the soft chirping of crickets.

"This is the other world."

I sit on the bed, "You lived here, then? Is it okay if you tell me what happened?"

She stands still, "Trying. Trying to remember," she wracks her head.

We hear arguing upstairs between Rosie and Stephan.

"She's going to grow up soon. Our little girl is going to be a grown up."

"I know. That's why we need to be careful and teach her right from wrong. Before she becomes…an adult dragon."

"By teaching her magic? Stephan. That's too dangerous. What if she hurts someone?"

 _Stomp_

"I know that! It's inevitable. We should at least teach her to be a decent person. That's when we let her go."

"But, I don't want to let her go."

Kotori listens as if she's a trance, "I'm…a dragon."

A sudden realization hits me. We did not get teleported to another world. We are living in a memory from Kotori's childhood.

We get sent to another point in time. I see Kotori sitting on the bench while Rosie reads a story to her.

"This is a new story, you might like it. The story of a hero who goes on adventures," she flips open the book and narrates to her.

Again, we get whisked to another part in time. Kotori is training with her father.

"Use your dragonfire!" she shouts.

She spits out a lightning bolt. The bolt slams into a target dummy.

When the training is, over Kotori is resting.

"She's ready. It's time, Rosie. She needs to go."

"But I don't want to leave her, "Rosie shouts in disbelief that he would tell her to abandon her daughter.

Kotori enters Stephan's room. There are books neatly placed on shelves. There's a globe in the corner and paperwork on his desk. She picks up the spell-book he brought home from before.

"I don't want to go," she says. She shakes the book, "Please help me. There must be a spell here that can help me stay with them forever!"

She takes the book and flips through it.

 _Whooooosshh_

A vortex appears in the middle of the room and sucks everything inside.

Rosie runs into the room, "Kotori!"

The gust of winds pulls Kotori into the vortex. She gets stuck halfway in up to her hips.

Rosie gets knocked over. Stephan runs to her side, "Kotori. Take my hand!" he stretches his hand toward her while holding tightly on to the door.

 _Whooooooosh fwoop fwoop_

Kotori tries to grab Stephan's hand but it's too late. She's sucked inside.

Not good. I jump into the vortex after her.

We fall through the hole and crash into the asphalt.

 _Beep Honk Beep Honk_

A woman, in a blue jacket walks past us. She stops and then walks back to us.

She has a curious look. She walks over to Kotori and gently nudges her.

"Argh…" Kotori rolls around in pain.

"You're a dragon. Aren't you?" the woman says.

"Yeah…," she shakes her body scared when she realizes where she is. She crawls to the back of a wall.

"Where am I? Who are you?!"

"Shh. Shh," she comforts her, "What's your name? Where are your parents?"

"K-Kotori," she answers.

"My name is Tohru. If your parents aren't here. Would you like to stay with me until we find them?"

 _FLASH_

I'm blinded yet again. When I wake up, I'm in Tohru's room.

I breath heavily, "Kotori…Kotori?"

"Mmm…," she opens her eyes, "That…wasn't a dream, was it?"

"No. No it wasn't," I shake my head.

"I'm home!" Tohru shouts slamming the door shut behind her. Her footsteps fast approach her room.

 _Creak_

She sees us on the floor, "Kotori. Shiro," she says sternly, "Is there a reason why you're in my room?"

She notices the crystal on the floor, "Ah," she kneels and picks it up, "So you found the crystal."

I rub my forehead, "What was that crystal, Tohru?"

"Something to help me remember all the precious moments I have with Kobayashi."

Kotori trembles, "I-I remember how I entered this world... I saw my home. I got sucked in through a portal. I have to go back!" she panics and runs to the front door, "We have to go back and get them!"

Tohru shakes her head, "Kotori. The portal to the other world is closed."

"But…But..," her hand is shaking. Tohru holds her hand, "I need to know what happened to them."

Tohru steps aside. She clears her throat. That's my cue to talk.

"Kotori," I speak softly, "You just remembered they took care of you. We don't know where they are."

Kotori reluctantly steps away from the front door.

"I'm sorry," Tohru apologizes, "I waited. Waited for the right time to tell you how I found you. I found you passed out. Maybe you hit your head. Because when I asked who your parents were you said you didn't know. I wanted to give you the crystal when the time was right."

She takes a deep breath and lets go of the door knob, "But mom. I'm home-sick."

Tohru hushes her, "Shh. I know. I miss the other world, too. But it can't be helped. This is our home now. Maybe one day we can go back there. Back to the other world. I'll find out how to open that portal. When we do, we'll find them. I promise," she extends her pinky finger out.

"Haha…A pinky promise," Kotori wraps her pinky around it and they shake.

"We have a home here. What happened is behind us," I hold the crystal in my hand, "I think you should keep it."

She takes the crystal from my hand and puts it in her pocket.

"Brr…," she rubs her hands together, "Is it cold in here?"

"The AC doesn't seem to be working," I groan. I point to the fireplace, "We're going to need to light the fireplace. Again."

She spits fire from her mouth and roasts the logs in the fireplace. We all huddle up close to the fireplace without saying a word. I think about her old family and the beautiful world Tohru and Kotori came from. I feel grateful to have them. I feel sad that she can't return to her other family. But at the same time, I know had they stayed there, they would be just another fire-breathing dragon. We wouldn't be together and I would continue to be alone. I wonder if they will return to that world. If they do, could I go with them? The thought scares me. But I know that moment won't come soon. For now, I need to stay in the moment. I need to leave behind a plethora of happy memories.

 **Preview: Magus needs help. I always help those in need. Next chapter, will I be able to change Magus? Or will his past transgressions catch up to him?**


	14. Chapter 14

(Magus') Atonement

I play through a level of my favorite game, Plumber Man.

 _Pew Pew_

My character jumps around, toting a raygun. He pulls the trigger and vaporizes a few earthworms.

 _Knock Knock Knock_

I don't even turn to see who is knocking on the door. My head is still glued to the game.

 _Knock Knock Knock Knock_

"Yeah? What is it?!" I pause the game and get off the couch, "Kotori! Did you get the door?"

She peaks her head out of the bathroom door, "Who is it?" she stomps to the front and swings the door open.

"W-Wh-Whoa," Lucoa steps back, surprised. Her breasts bounce and hit her in the face.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry!" she grabs Lucoa, "Are you hurt? I know how to treat wounds! Let me chec-"

"She got hit by her breasts, not a mace."

Lucoa chuckles and Kotori glares at me.

"Oh. Sorry…That- That came out-" I stutter and look in the opposite direction, "What is it?"

"It's terrible. Magus is causing a commotion."

I shake my head. Magus just came home and he's already causing his mom grief, "What is he doing this time?"

 _Crash_

A guy flies out of the window next to our apartment room.

 _Thwack_

"Gyaah," a second man lands face-first on the floor.

Magus steps out cracking his knuckles, "I'm not going to ask you a second time. Where is the warden?"

The man rubs his bloody nose, "I 'aint telling you shit-" Magus kicks him in the face. He grabs him by the armpits and tosses him off the second floor.  
"What was that for?" I approach him cautiously.

"He insulted my mother," he says plainly glancing at Lucoa, "Dragon or not, Nobody calls her those names."

I have a feeling I know what names exactly, judging by how Lucoa dresses.

Lucoa holds her hands up, "Now, now, Magus. He didn't mean those things. Think about how Shouta will feel when he finds out you were fighting again!"

Magus shrugs, "I don't have time for this. I'm looking for those wardens. You're welcome to come along."

I follow him.

Kotori sighs, "Guess I'm coming with you, again."

He descends the stairs, "I'm looking for wardens."

"What's a warden?" I ask.

Lucoa sighs, "So that's what this is about…Wardens are people who put people in jail for not obeying Elma's laws. I was imprisoned by Magus, he is a warden, for example."

Magus crosses his arms. He looks pissed, but it wasn't because he's mad at his mother.

"Was told I was imprisoning criminals who had no respect for balance between human and dragons. They put me in charge of guarding them. Had I known what they were _really_ guilty for-"

Lucoa pets Magus' head, "Shh. Shh. It's in the past. You didn't know. I forgive you."

He raises his brows and no longer frowns, "Yeah…," he levitates a book and flips open the pages, "I imprisoned more people though. Not just Lucoa. I remember their names and I plan to break them all out."

I scroll through the list. Flabbergasted by the list, I take a step back, "Hold up. You want to rescue all these people?"

He nods, "It's the only way I can atone for what I did."

I grab the book and shake it at him, "Magus. These are criminals. Are you sure Elma would like it if you free them?"

He smirks. He waves his hands and looks around him, "Do you see Elma?"

I shake my head.

"Then what's the problem? She's getting rid of the old laws for Tohru's sake. Consider these people, innocent."

He has a point. Still. It's not easy. And I almost died stopping Elma last time. I rather not die again. Even if I can see mom again.

Lucoa rubs her chin. Magus waves us goodbye, "If you don't want to help, you don't have to."

Lucoa walks beside him, "I'm with you. It should be fun. Some nice, quality time spent between a mother and her son."  
They open a portal in the middle of the street. Dammit. I run after them through the portal.

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" Kotori jumps in, too.

On the other side, we find ourselves in front of a small home. Lucoa knocks on the front door.

"What?" Fafnir opens the door.

Magus walks inside. There's a kitchen in the front. To the left are two gaming computers and a pair of futons on the floor. "Oh hey, Shiro!" Takiya crawls out of his blanket.

Wait. This is my dad's home. A home _in_ the city. We could have walked here in under an hour.

"You opened a portal that people could have seen to meet my dad?"

Magus helps himself to potato chips. He jumps in my dad's seat and plays a short game, "I was too lazy to walk. Fafnir. Do you have the list like you promised?"

Fafnir rubs the bags under his eyes. His eye's glow. "I found them,"

I look at both Magus and Fafnir confused, "Wait since when did you know each other?"

They ignore me.

He picks up a ledger, writes down the location of the warden's and passes it to Magus.

Magus flips through the pages, he holds up his hand to say, "Give me a minute. This is a huge list."

"My payment," Fafnir taps on his desk.

"Right," Magus dumps a pile of video games on the desk.

I flip through the games. They're all the latest titles that came out this year. How…How did he get these? Where?

Takiya drinks a can of soda, "So. Is that your sister? She's pretty. Like Tohru."

Kotori makes a pouty face, "Don't call me that. It's creepy…uncle Takiya," she hisses. She looks away and covers her face so he can't see her blushing.

Uncle Takiya? I pinch myself. Nope. I'm not dreaming.

"So. You're a maid, too?" Takiya leans closer to Kotori and looks at her from top to bottom.

"I'm training to be a maid. Like mother."

"Oh, oh so you want to be legit. Not some cosplayer," he covers his mouth and looks around to check if no one is listening, "If you want to be way better than Tohru, study mannerisms. She's horrible at it. Rants about how humans are inferior all the time. That'll make you a legit maid. Way better than Tohru'll ever be."

I laugh and put my hand over my forehead. That should be common sense. Seriously.

 _Scribble Scribble Scribble_

I see Kotori taking notes. I groan. I guess common sense isn't common for dragons. I look at the futon on the floor and the disorganized mess that is his bedroom, "You own a company. Couldn't you afford something more…roomy?"

He laughs, scratching his back, "Nah. I like sleeping like this," he pulls a lever on the side of his wall.

The wall slides open. Inside is a library. I pull out random books lining the shelves. They're manga and doujins all fully alphabetized and in numerical order. There are displays of figurines behind layers of museum glass.

"Did you spend all your money on _this_?!"

"No," he says unconvincingly, "Okay. I spent most of it on this. I still had enough left over for you and your and grandmother though. Now that Tohru's taking care of you though…I can now indulge myself every now and then," he chuckles.

"So. You're okay with her raising me?"

He lays on his side, "Yeah. I was worried you might not like staying here. Tohru is weird and she doesn't quite fit in with other humans who aren't Kobayashi. When she passed away she rarely left Kobayashi's apartment. That was a while ago. Since she took you two in I've seen a change in her. A lot of my friends and colleague bring up that a certain maid has been helping around town. Who else could it be, but Tohru? I was afraid her anti-social behavior would rub off on you for a second," he breathes a sigh of relief.

"That's funny coming from someone who lives like hikikkimori, I joke."

I scratch my head. I never really knew what she was like before. She was hostile to me when I first met her. But she's been warming up to me. Ah, it's not worth worrying about.

"Done," Magus closes the ledger. He opens another portal.

"Good work!" Lucoa surprise hugs him from behind.

 _Boing Boing_

Her breasts bounce like gelatin on top Magus' head. His cool demeanor is gone. He stands perfectly still with a red face. Me and Kotori both crack up. I rub my broken sides while Kotori tries not to snort out sparks of ember.

"Not funny," he says before jumping into the portal.

"This should be interesting. Come on-"

Kotori coughs.

"Are you okay? Are you sick?"

She coughs again. This time louder.

"We should get you cough-"

She punches me in the shoulder and points at Takiya.

"What is this- YEOW!" I get punched again, "Okay, okay," I turn to Takiya and bow, "Thank you for helping me last time…dad. I need to go now. I'll see you again. Hopefully," we jump in the portal.

"Don't be afraid to visit again!" Takiya shouts.

We land in front of some sort of night club. There's no one around. The line is empty and there is only one bouncer at the front.

"Where is everyone?" I look around.

Kotori shrugs, "Maybe everyone avoids this place. Because the service is garbage."

Magus cracks his knuckles and approaches the bouncer, "Listen up you oversized potato. Let me in to see the warden or else."

The bouncer flexes his muscles. Not intimidated by his threats, he pulls up his sunglasses to show his pupils. He gives me a puzzled look. I shrug. I put my hand on Magus' shoulder, "C'mon. It's not here. Maybe we got the wrong address."

He brushes me off and holds up five fingers, "On the count of five."

I smack my head. This is too embarrassing to watch.

"Five…"

Lucoa grabs him and puts her hand over his mouth, "Please forgive him...He doesn't know what he's doing…"

"Four…"

Kotori stomps on his foot, "Stop it. Before we get arrested or something!"

He jumps up and rubs his foot, "Yeow! Two….," he summons a huge fireball, "One!"

"Please don't kill him," Lucoa pleads.

 _Ptoom_

The fireball smacks into the bouncer's gut. He flies through the wall. Bricks and mortar crumble from the blow. We see the outline of his body where the wall used to be.

"Magus! What did I say about killing?!" she smacks him on the head.

"Ow! I didn't kill him. I broke his bones though," he rubs his head.

"That man did nothing wrong," she scolds, "Now I have to explain to Shouta what happen-" she pauses and looks directly in front of her.

"You were saying?" I said. I turn to see what the fuss is about when I see a room full of magic cages. The bars glow blue and the padlock is a magic seal that rotates in circles.

"Oh. He wasn't an innocent man. Good work, Magus!" she gives him a pat on the back. She steps over the bouncer, "I'm sorry."

The bouncer is paralyzed, "Ugghhhh. Sorry doesn't cut-"

Lucoa rubs her breasts in his face, "Shh. Let me make it better with my body."

"Ah..Ah…I forgive you."

"Ugh. Mom. Stop!" Magus closes his eyes and walks over to a jail cell.

He shakes and rattles every cell, "Damnit," he kicks a cell, "I don't see Georgie or her mom anywhere."

"Is that why you're doing this? Because of what happened to Kanna and Saikawa? Could have told us before."

I groan and make sure the cells are left the way they were before we came in. I open each cell.

It's a group of dragon and human children. A toddler sees Magus. She backs up against the wall.

"Ish-Ish y-you," she hides back in the cell. Magus gently pulls her out.

"You don't need to stay here anymore. Go," he waves his hand and leads them to the door.

"But where doo we go? she asks. Magus puts his hand on his chin and ponders.

He snaps his finger. Magus kneels so he is on the same level as the child. A detailed list of directions appears in the girl's hand, "Go here. You'll see a lady with a green tail. Tell her Magus said you could stay there."

"Thank you, mister," she gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Lolicon," Kotori smirks.

"Nah, she 'aint my type," Magus shoots back. He looks at the ledger Fafnir gave him, "Georgie and Saikawa's mother aren't here. Dammit. I thought they moved everyone here."

"Everyone?" I look at the cells, "What does that mean?"

He gives me a serious look, "I was discharged by Elma. Told to stay with Lucoa. I heard that the prisoners were moved from there to here. Unless…."

My head clears and I anticipate his next words, "Unless they're still there."

He adjusts his glasses, "You know what they say. Great minds think alike. Will you help me rescue her? For-"

"Saikawa?" I finish.

"Yes, but not just her. For my atonement."

I shrug. We've made it this far. I may as well see this through to the end.

 _Whoosh_

There's a bright flash of light. When the light clears, I can make out the outline of several guards around me. They're holding swords and shields facing us from all angles.

"Magus?" a knight shouts from the top of the prison walls, "What are you doing here?"

"You owe me a favor. I ask that you please let go Georgie and her mother."

The knight's mouth opens. He points at Magus in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

Magus is now impatient he sasses him, "No I'm telling a joke. What do you think?"

The knight sheathes his sword. His eyes trail off, thinking about his next course of action, "Sorry. Elma's orders. We can't let them out."

Magus cracks his knuckles. You asked for it. Lucoa embarrassed lets out a deep sigh. She opens her eyes. Her left eye is a normal green. But her right eye is glowing gold. The knights step back. Lucoa is giving off a dreadful aura.

"Please let them out before someone gets hurt," she channels magic through her body.

"Want to join?" Magus asks me and Kotori.

Kotori is already retracting her sharp claws. I shrug. Well, I guess I have no other choice.

Magus casts a shield around us.

 _Fwoop Fwoop Fwoop_

Crossbows fly and harmlessly bounce off the shield.

Kotori claps her hands together. A bolt of lightning is flung from her fingers and zips into a column of knights. A squad descends the stairs and get through the bubble.

 _Clang Clang_

I swing wildly and parry their blows. I charge my sword with magic and swing. My swings shoot out gusts of wind that push them back.

"Hyahh!" Lucoa releases her magic energy. The earth cracks underneath us. Hundreds of men fall through the crevices.

There are no more knights left.

Lucoa points at the bottom of the crevices. The men are alright. Albeit a bit hurt.

Magus finds a set of stairs and safely descends them. We enter and see the same cells from before. There's a foul, moldy smell in the hallway. Water drips from the ceiling. Many of the cells are empty. What Magus said is true. They moved almost everyone.

"Anyone here?!" I shout. My voice echoes through the hallway.

 _Here…Here…Here…_

Lucoa sighs disappointed. She pulls Magus closer to comfort him, "I'm sorry," she shakes her head, "They're not here."

Guess it was for nothing. I lean against the damp prison wall.

 _Scrub Scrub Scrub_

Am I hearing things? Kotori and Lucoa exchange surprised glances. They follow the echoes of scrubbing to the end of the hallway. On the right of the cell is a maid scrubbing clothes.

"Hey," I wave my hands for her to come closer. She ignores me.

"Is she ignoring us?" Kotori asks.

Magus taps on the cell. A forcefield is blocking the way, "This must be blocking all sound to the cell," he launches a firebolt at the cell.

 _THOOMP_

The forcefield fragments into several pieces. The maid jumps back startled. She turns to see us standing in front of her.

"You," Magus points at her, "What's your name?"

"G-Georgie," she stutters.

Magus smiles, "Finally," he lies down on the floor, "We found her."

We climb back up the stairs. We breath in the fresh ocean air. We let Georgie rest outside on the prison. She watches the sun and the ocean waves crashing against the prison walls.

"It's been forever since I saw daylight," she lies down and looks at the sky, "It looks so beautiful."

Magus lies down beside Georgie, "It is."

He lets her rest for a long five minutes. He then asks, "Georgie. Do you know where your mother is?"

Georgie thinks, "I'm…not sure."

"Damnit," Magus punches himself, "Well. At least we found her. Now we got to find her mother. I know she's out there somewhere."  
A portal opens above us. Elma and Shouta dive through and land in front of us.

"You will do no such thing," Elma raises her spear against Magus.

Shouta approaches Magus, "I know your heart is in the right place, but you're causing a disturbance. I heard you fought with a bunch of people and caused property damage."

Magus shields Georgie from Elma, "What am I supposed to do? Nothing?"

Elma for a brief second frowns. She holds her spear indecisively, almost shaking, "Georgie has to go back."

Georgie hides behind Magus, "B-Back? What is she saying?"

Magus doesn't answer.

"I can't go back! I don't want to. I just want to go home."

"Shit. What am I going to do now?" Magus stares at me as if I know the answer.

Shouta cross his arms. I walk in front of Magus toward Elma, "Elma. Don't you think the laws are too harsh?"

Elma raises an eyebrow before shaking her head, "No. I made the laws to maintain order between the humans and dragons."

"Please continue, Shiro. Elma can be strict sometimes but she's a good girl."

"D-Don't tell him that?!" she blushes, "L-Look. Dragons aren't even supposed to exist in this world. We belong to the other world. If we stay here, no one must know we exist."

I cross my arms. Lucoa is on to something, "Elma. What do you think order looks like?"

Elma scoffs at how simple-minded my question is, "It's like a scale of course. It has to be balanced always."

I grin at Elma. I got her where I want her now. I continue with my analogy, "Right. A scale is never the same. It's always changing. Order must change every time to stay constant. People will know dragons exist. In fact, some people already _have._ Like me for example. Are you going to put everyone in prison when that happens?"

Elma is quiet. She looks at me with wide open eyes. She drops her spear, "I'm a dragon of harmony. My purpose is to maintain order. That's why I punished those people…yet…Why do I feel horrible…," she hangs her head.

Lucoa gets close to Elma, "Now, Now. You just made a mistake. We all do. Magus for example feels horrible, too. It's normal. Admitting is the first step to fixing a problem they say."

Elma bows in front of me, "Thank you. For now I have to leave…again."

"Wait," I run in front of Elma, "Where are you going?"

"I have to go back," she explains, "I'm trying to reform the Order. I promised Tohru, I would not allow my men to harm dragons. And now…," she pauses. She clears her throat and speaks to me with conviction, "I also promise you that I will abolish laws that cause unnecessary suffering to humans and dragons who wish to live with each other."

She disappears into the portal she recently opened.

"So…Does that mean I'm off the hook?" Magus asks his dad.

Shouta shakes his head, "You broke down a wall and beat up a lot of people. You're going to apologize and fix everything you destroyed. Now," he points at the prison full of injured guards, "Get to work."

"Actually…I injured those guards.

Shouta smacks his head, "Dear. We are going to have a serious talk when we get home."

Me and Kotori fly off before Shouta could say anything about us. We make it back to Tohru's apartment.

"Well that was…interesting," Kotori jumps on the couch.

I yawn and lie on the floor next to her, "Yeah. Magus sure caused a lot of trouble."

"But he did help a lot of people," she adds.

Tohru swings open the door, glaring at us, "Kotori…Shiro…"

Oh shit.

She points to a crowd of dragon and human children standing outside the apartment room.

"Did we not have a talk about bringing _strangers_ into the apartment?"

 **Preview: The portal to the other world opens. What horrors lurk on the other side? Next chapter,**

 **Return of Demise!**


	15. Chapter 15

Hellos Are Short Goodbyes Last forever

Two feet of snow covered the street today. It has been a while since I visited my mother. Today felt like a good day to visit her. The snow crunches underneath my feet. There it is. My mother's grave. It's stayed the same all these years. A pot of incense sits beside her.

"Thank you for what you did, mom," I kneel before her. I can see my breath fume from my mouth, "I promise I'll take care of things while you're gone."

I said all I needed to. I should head back before the others worry. I don't take too long on my walk back home. When I arrive, I see Elma meditating in front of our apartment. She's quietly meditating in the snow. Kanna kneels beside Elma wagging her tail. Tohru sits impatiently on a bench. Kotori goes through the laundry with Fafnir helping. I drop my bags at the front door, "Elma. You're back. And so is… everyone else."

She opens her eyes, "Yes…I need all of you to come with me. It's important."

Lucoa bumps into me. She's holding several bento boxes, "I brought meals for us. Will we be gone long?"

"I don't understand. Why do you need us?"

She bows, "I'm sorry. But I need all the dragons to come with me. You need to bring your people with me to see the dragons of Harmony, Tohru."

Tohru taps her feet on the snow. Her arms are crossed, "They're not my people anymore…I'm sorry. I can't make them go with you."

"It's important," Elma insists.

 _Whoosh_

A portal opens in front of us.

Tohru scoffs, "You didn't need my help when you started oppressing your own species. What made you change your mind?"

Elma lowers her trident, glumly she looks at all of us. Her eyes trail off and she shakes, "The portal…to the other world is opening. Tohru."

Tohru looks up at Elma.

"Sorry…Repeat that again…The portal to the other world is open?"

Elma says nothing. She stands completely still.

"Open…," Kanna's horns stand up straight, "Elma. What are you planning to do with the portal?"

"We need to decide what to do with it. We should close it," Elma answers, "The portal could attract more dragons. Dangerous ones. Maybe even your fath-"

Tohru slaps Elma right across the cheek for mentioning her father.

Everyone is quiet. No one moves or reacts. Elma doesn't even rub her bruise.

"You're not closing the portal," Tohru whispers to her.

Elma slaps her back with an equal amount of force, "It's not your decision alone! Everyone has to vote-"

Tohru raises her voice, "That portal leads to our home! _Both_ our parents live on the other side. We can't close it!" she pushes Elma against the wall.  
"Lady Tohru," Kanna pulls Tohru away. She runs to Elma's side, "Your father is on the other side. He's dangerous. If he gets through-"

Lucoa gasps, "Kanna. You have friends on the other side. Don't you want to see them again?"

Kanna lowers her head. She looks at the snowflakes dropping to the earth, "I do. I want to, but I have friends on this side, too. I don't want them to get hurt."

An argument breaks out between all of us. Magus punches the wall, "Dammit! Listen, all of you! You know Tohru's comrades are dangerous. They believe in destroying the world and doing as they please! We can't let them into this world!" he walks over to Elma. Shouta steps in front of him, "Be calm for a second. Don't you remember what happened the last time?"

"But, dear. Don't you want to be able to show future generations where they came from?"

Conflicted, he steps aside. Magus walks over to Elma.

Elma puts her hand on Tohru's shoulder. Tohru looks up at Elma. They maintain a long ten seconds of eye contact.

"I'm sorry," Elma says in the sincerest tone she can muster, "But you remember what happened to Kobayashi."

I clear my throat. My curiosity is piqued. Everyone is indecisive, conflicted. They reference a past event. Something I'm not aware. I clench my fists, "You've been discussing this the whole time. But you forgot about me. I have a right to know, a right to decide…," steam forms at the tip of my mouth. I breathe in and out. The smoke fades in. Fades out, "So tell me what happened to mom? What happened the last time the portal opened?"

The snow falls under our feet. Quiet. I can only hear my short, rhythmic breaths. No one responds.

"Will someone please explain what happened to his mom?" Tohru asks to everyone present. Silence.

"Fine. Then I should be the one to tell him," she kneels in front of me like an adult does when addressing a child.

"I said I would be honest with you. I came here from the other world. We all did. That portal was closed a long time ago," she pauses.

I nod, "Yes. But why did you close it?"

"Kotori," she calls to my sister.

Kotori gives her the memory crystal. Tohru holds it in her palms, "I'll show you. It's much easier that way."

The memory portal lights up and shrouds me in a warm aura. The aura reminds me of a warm embrace.

When I come to I see rolling green hills. Is this the outskirts of our hometown?

 _Boom_

The ground rumbles beneath me. A cloud of smoke and fire flies into the air. Wings stretch out of the smoke. A green dragon slams into the ground splitting the earth underneath her like a massive hoe.

A woman with red hair, runs to the dragon's side. She kneels down in the dirt and grabs the dragon by the sides, "Tohru. Wake up!"

A red dragon towered over them menacingly. It had red eyes. "Rrrggh," it growled.

 _Thump Thump_

It stepped closer to Kobayashi. Tohru got up.

Fwoomp!

She spins with her tail in a circle. The red dragon latches onto her tail.

"Hisss!" Tohru was dragged along the floor and slammed into the earth.

 _Thoomp_

The ground shakes again. Kobayashi loses her footing. Kanna and Lucoa dive at the red dragon with their claws. He steps back, parrying their attacks. The red dragon opens its mouth and shoots out rays of hot death.

Kanna and Lucoa fly out of the way, barely making contact. Parts of Kanna's fur singes.

"I will not let you stay this time, Tohru. I will bring you home even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming," it threatens.

Tohru struggles to get up, but he stomps her into the earth. She changes back into her human form. She's too weak to move, "F-Father. I can't leave lady Tohru."

The red dragon dives toward Kobayashi with its palm and claws protruding from its fingers.

"Duck!" Kanna fires a short burst of energy at Tohru's father. The blast temporarily blinds her. She jumps to the floor. A wall of fire flies over her. Her clothes catch fire, "Hot, Hot, Hot!" she rolls and smacks the fire with her hands. She grabs Tohru and puts her on her back. Tohru's father charges at her.

"Shit!" Kobayashi curses. She runs as fast as her legs can take her. A black dragon slams into him. Tohru's father and the black dragon roll away. The black dragon attempts to wrestle Tohru's dad to the floor. The black dragon's grip over Tohru's dad is weakening, "How much more time do we have?!"

Elma is floating above the clouds, "Wait…I'm almost done." Elma is channeling her energy through a circle of magic crystals. They dispel electric sparks as they rotate around here.

"Fools. Tohru is needed. She cannot abandon her duty to Chaos. To us!" he gives in to his primal rage. The dirt beneath him is sucked up by an invisible force, molded into powerful meteorites.

 _Ptooom_

They tear through the wind toward Kobayashi. Lucoa, Kanna, and Fafnir jump in front of her. Thousands of fragments and shards slam into them. They fly in numerous directions away from Kobayashi and Tohru.

"K-Kobayashi," she falls over, "Run…" They all collapse and change back into their human forms.

 _Thud…Thud…_

The Emperor of Demise, Tohru's father stood menacingly over Kobayashi. Kobayashi holds tightly on to Tohru. Tohru smiles weakly at Kobayashi, "If we die, I want you to know I'll always love you." She squeezes her tightly, "We're not dying! We're going to go home. I promise."

He slowly pokes Kobayashi in the chest.

"Y-You can't disrupt the order of this world," she stutters, "You can't kill me. You can't kill-," she feels her heart stop beating.

His cold breath shrouds Kobayashi's body, "If you get in my way again, you'll wish I _could_ kill you," he whispers.

"T-T-T-o-h-r-u."

"Now!" Elma swings her trident. A bright blue ripple pierces the clouds and slices Tohru's father. He falls, "What treachery is this?!" A group of Harmony Dragons all chant with Elma, "Being of chaos... With the power given to me by the council of Harmony, I banish you!"

His eye widens open.  
The rotating crystals spin like a lasso towards him, binding his arms and legs together.

 _THUMP_

 _Vrm Vrm Vrm Vrm Vrm Vrm…Whoosh_

The crystals spin wildly. A massive portal opens, sucking him.

 _Whoosh_

The portal closes on him. _Crash_

The crystals Elma use break.

A portal opens from beneath him and sucks him before he could resist.

The red dragon vanished. Kobayashi catches her breath, "Tohru?"

Tohru doesn't move. She shakes her body, "Tohru…? Tohru! Wake up! Tohru. I love you!"

Elma floats down to Tohru. She wraps her hand over Tohru's forehead to check her temperature.

Kanna crawls over to Tohru's side. Lucoa refuses to look at Tohru's body.

Elma shouts, "She's breathing!"

"I'm grateful," Kobayashi sighs.

Kanna lies down and relaxes. Lucoa wipes her eyes, "I k-knew she would be okay from the start!" she tells herself.

The harmony dragons look at the wounded dragons shaking their heads, "Their actions brought the Emperor of Demise here."

"Quiet. Now is not the time for your lectures," Elma orders.

"But lady Elma," a dragon pauses, "The seal isn't permanent. He'll come back. What will you do then?"

She doesn't say anything. She is tired and cold. Elma didn't think this far, "I don't know."

"The seal closed off this world to the Emperor of Demise. It will last. But not forever," the harmony dragon nods.

Tohru's present self stands next to me.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"The emperor of demise came for me. We couldn't defeat him so we sealed him away."

Tohru's rubs her forehead. Sweat pours down her forehead, "If…If he comes back. He'll injure all of you. Or worse."

I grab Tohru's hand, "Tohru. You can't leave. We can face that red dragon together."

"You know that's not true," Tohru steps back.

"Please. Stay with us," I get on my knees and beg.

"But if I don't go with him…You'll all get hurt."

She's right. We will get hurt. Yet…I can't let her leave. I don't know how we will face him again.

I don't know which thought scares me more; Tohru leaving. Or her father returning. He beat everyone. There's no way we could face him again. "Let's go back to the others. It's time we decided what to do with the dragons."

Tohru pets me on the head, "You have the stubbornness of your mom…"

We're brought back to the present. Elma is waiting for us, "Are you ready to meet the others?"

"Yes," we all nod.

We walk through the portal into a council room. A group of dragons and humans are sitting together.

A tall man in armor sits in front of these officials. He stands up from his seat, "You brought the chaos dragons here and we arrived as promised. You came to discuss our next course of action?" He looks on while impatiently tapping the floor with his shoe.

Elma addresses the council, "As you are all aware. The portal is opening. This situation requires all dragons present. Chaos and Harmony."

The council voices their disgust at our presence. The man slams his table, "If the emperor's daughter hadn't come to this world we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Return her and he'll leave us alone!" The council members shout in agreement, "Aye. The destroyer's daughter should do everyone a favor and go home."

Kotori speaks up, "Watch it. My mom isn't going anywhere. We live here and we deserve to be here like everyone us! You all came from the other world, too! Who are you to tell us where we can live."

Some council members whisper to each other, exchanging glances.

"She is right," Elma stands up for Kotori.

"Have you turned on us!"

The council shout at her, but she speaks over them, "We stood up to him once. We can do it again," she addresses the most vocal member of the council by name, "Cremene. You were there. We defeated him. We can defeat him again."

"And what happens if we fail?" Cremene asks, "You'll endanger countless lives. The dragons in this world respect humans. But the Emperor's dragons don't. I don't want to see them do as they please with the humans like toys," he shakes his head.

I notice there are at least ten harmony faction officials here. "They have slightly more people than us. Are you sure we can sway their minds? Are there no other Chaos dragons?" I whisper to Elma. Some guards hand out papers for us to sign. I write Yes. Elma looks at all the council members writing down their vote, "We can only hope we convinced some of them."

"Trust the same people who earlier picked a fight with Tohru and the others?" I sarcastically respond.

She shakes her head, "Not all of them are like that. There are some good people here who want to protect the human world."

A mage counts the results. It's so quiet I hear a pen drop, "The votes against…8. The votes for…," he flips through the results. I take a deep breath, "4 votes for yes… Lucoa…Shouta…Shiro…Kotori…."

I notice Tohru's name is absent from the votes for Yes. She voted against us…Tohru turns away, "I'm sorry. I can't…It's easier this way. If I go with him he'll leave you alone. Then Elma can close the portal. Hopefully for good this time."

"Tohru…Please don't leave." I approach her but she turns me away.

"You're a lot like you're mother, " she laughs, "That's why I have to leave. Goodbye, Shiro! Goodbye Kotori! Goodbye….," she wipes the tears coming down her cheeks, "Goodbye everyone," she opens a portal and vanishes.

 _Whoosh_

I pass out. When I come to, I'm in my bed. Was it a dream? I jump out of my bed.

I swing open my bedroom door, "Shiro!" Kotori shouts to me. I look around the living room. She's not here. I check her room. All her things her gone. The bedroom is empty. I see only a note on the floor. I collapse to my knees and pick up the note to read it.

"Take care of each other. – Love, Tohru."

I punch the floor, "She just left…," I remember my mom. I remember the people dear to me I lost. Why is this happening to me?

Kotori sits beside me. She doesn't say anything. All she does is shake her head in disbelief. I slept with my eyes open and stare at the ceiling. This feeling is familiar. I felt it before…I remember now how I felt before meeting Tohru. The emptiness inside...


	16. Chapter 16

Shiro and Friends' Determination to Go On (Or the lack thereof)

I rinse the dishes with water from the sink. My fingers run through each plate to check that they are spotless. Now that I finished my chores I sit on the couch and turn on the TV. Nothing was on. Nothing good at least. Just the same reality TV shows. I look out the window. Kanna is standing alone in the snow. I descend the stairs to meet her, "Kanna? You should go inside before you catch a cold."

"I'm used to the cold," she says. She sits down on the ground. Georgie watches her outside their room.

She steps back and forth worried, "Saikawa would love the snow. I wonder where she is now."

She goes back inside and shuts the door behind her. I go back in my apartment. The clothes are stacked in piles around the living room. Kotori quickly folds through them.

"Don't push yourself," I help her fold the clothes.

"This place needs to be clean when Tohru comes back," she licks each of them thoroughly.

"And what if she doesn't come back?" She stops. She doesn't give a response. She holds tightly on the clothes she's folding in her hand.

"She will come back," she insists, "She promised we would find my home in the other world after all."

"She's not coming back," I told her bluntly. She doesn't say anything. She ignores me instead and goes back to folding her clothes. There's no way I can convince her. I leave through the front door. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I need a moment away from the house. It brings back too many painful memories. I decide to go to the mall. Magus is standing in front of the water fountain with Lucoa and Shouta seated, watching him. I stand next to the fountain. The water is dried up today. Coins litter the bottom.

"How's Kanna?" Magus asks me.

"I don't know if she'll be okay. Saikawa didn't come back yet."

"She has to. Georgie is here."

"We hid the truth from her. I don't think she'll come back."

"How is that Kanna's fault?" he growls.

"She's just overwhelmed. She needs space."

He kicks the fountain, "Space from Kanna? Kanna is innocent. I was the one who kept her in that prison!"

I recall he fought for Harmony with Elma. They hunted down dragons and humans who didn't obey their laws and imprisoned them.

"Damnit, I'm an idiot."

"Hey," I speak slowly, "It's not your fault. You didn't know who she was or why she was there. You can't control how Saikawa feels."

He shrugs, "Whatever. I'm leaving. See you later, I guess."

Magus walks off waving his hand to say goodbye. The mall was a bad idea. I think I've had enough fresh air. I walk home. Along the way, I run into Fafnir and Takiya.

"Oh hey, Shiro!" They're holding bags of videogames and figurines, "We're going to be playing a new Fighter. It's something the boys at the company made. Want to try?"

I spend the next couple of hours playing the game with Takiya. He's beating me to a pulp with this overpowered character. The character is the BladeMaster and he's destroying my Mage every round.

"C'mon," Takiya shouts, "You can do better.

I mash the buttons, "You're too damn fast."

"No, I'm not. It just seems that way. Time your hits."

I glue my eyes to the screen and wait. I see his character make a sudden movement. I randomly parry at random times. The first few attempts result in painful defeats for my character, but eventually I manage to deflect his fast attacks.

"Are you going to block forever?" he taunts.

"You're really fast. It's insane." My heart is beating quickly from how intense these fights are.

"I'm an aggressive player. Focus. How can you use that against me?"

I press the parry and hit button at the same time. My character blocks an attack then strikes him. Hmm. I continue to parry and hit. I win my first round and from there, I turn the tides on Takiya. When we're done, I win more matches than I lose.

"That wasn't hard now, wasn't it?" Takiya laughs.

"I thought I was gonna keep losing for the rest of the day."

He hands me his controller, "You could have. I provided a decent challenge for you and knocked you down a lot. But you got up, focused, and prevailed. That's important," he wraps the console and controller up in gift wrap.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

He ties a bow on a box then places the game, console, and controllers in, "Merry, Early Christmas, Shiro."

I hold onto the box amazed, "Thank you. Why are you doing this now?"

He scratches his back, "I know what happened with Tohru. I didn't want to see you be miserable so I decided to play with you. Remember what I said. Focus, don't give up, and prevail. Those are things Kobayashi told me when she was still alive. Think. What would she want you to do? What would she say?"

I scratch my head, "It's hard to know. She's dead after all."

He shakes his head, "It's sad that she died. But she's not gone. She wouldn't leave our side. She's stubborn like that," he opens the door for me, "It's getting late. Next time, you're playing against Fafnir. His skill level is insane. I'm warning you."

I smirk. He's no challenge for me. He gives me a card with his phone number on it, "You'll need a job. Both you and Kotori. Come by next week. I can arrange something."

A few hours later I open the door to my home. Kotori is sleeping on the couch. The clock hands are both pointing straight at 12 am. It's midnight. I crawl into bed.

"She wouldn't leave our side. She's stubborn like that…," I whisper Takiya's words to myself. I drift asleep.

I see a young version of me barely 8 years old holding on to a kite. The wings and face of a dragon are painted on it.

"Let's fly with the dragon, Shiro." That voice is Kobayashi's. She lets the kite ascend while she holds tightly to the string keeping it in the air.

"Fly, Fly, Fly!" my younger self shouts.

Man. I used to be so cheerful.

"I wonder what she would say to me now?" I thought to myself.

How would she react to how I changed? Would she be ashamed at all?

"I wouldn't be ashamed," Kobayashi said.

Huh? I look at Kobayashi. She's making direct eye contact with me.

I rub my eyes…, "Is this a dream?"

Kobayashi laughs, "Yes and no."

I touch her cheek. In response, she gives me a big kiss on my cheek.

 _Chu_

"Mom…What should I do? Tohru left."

"Tohru isn't gone," she says before I can even finish my sentence. She looks at me, "You can feel it, can you?" she rubs the area where my heart is, "I had this feeling before. When I first met Tohru."

I never heard Tohru say anything about how they first met.

She sits me down so I can rest on her lap, "How did you meet?"

"I was really drunk and ended up in the mountains. That's where I found her," she pauses to blush.

I lean closer, "What happened next, mom? Don't keep me waiting."

"We talked and drank together. I asked her to come to my place. I had a huge hangover and couldn't remember a thing. When suddenly, there she was dressed up in a maid outfit. I apologized and said I couldn't take her in. She was about to leave…In that moment I felt like I was making a mistake. Like I was going to regret it if I let her leave," she gives me a mischievous look while adjusting her glasses, "That reminds me of a certain someone, Tohru refused to take in at first. I have a feeling she knew she would regret not letting this someone live with her."

I grin, "Tell me. Did this certain someone have a mother?"

She nods, "Oh yes. I think his name is…Shiro," she jokes. She clears her throat, "Tohru is going to leave. If you let her leave you'll regret it just like I would have regretted letting Tohru go."

I nod. My heart beats with determination. I recall finding her, helping Kotori, fighting with Kanna, and hundreds of other events I experienced flash through my very eyes.

"You're right, I'm going to find her."

My mom holds me up like a little boy. The sun's rays cast blinding beams of light into my eyes.

The sun blinds my eyes, "Oh. It looks like you're about to wake up, Shiro! You know where to find her…"

"In the mountains," I reply. I step toward the light and wave goodbye to her, "Thank you for everything, mom!"

I wake from my sleep and walk into the living room.

"Good morning, Shiro," Kotori folds her clothes again. I seize her by the palm.

She looks puzzled, "What are you doing, Shiro?"

"C'mon. I think I know where Tohru is. Let's go!" I run out the door dragging her with me.

"Shiro. Wait! What about the clothes!"

"Forget about that! Mom's more important, right?!"

Her eyes sparkle, "Shiro…," she nods, "Right."

We run to the subway. I dump my money in front of the cashier and collect our tickets. We climb to the top of the escalators. By accident we knock over a few businessmen.

"Sorry!" I shout. We force ourselves into the bullet train full of passengers. They all hold on to handrails while some take a seat. The bullet train whizzes through the countryside. Ten minutes later it stops at a train station in the middle of the forest. I can see mountains in the distance.

Kotori sniffs the cold mountain air, "Tohru's scent. She's here!" She jumps into the forests with me following right behind her. We search every trail, every corner. Leaving no stone unturned, we followed her scent downstream. The sun is setting, but we don't hesitate or even consider turning back. We make it to an opening where trees were cleared out recently. Tohru sits by a huge bonfire made from cut down trees.

She jumps back, surprised to find us here, "Shiro. Kotori. How did you find me here?"

"Kobayashi told me you would be here," I answer.

"That can't be right. She's dead!" she shouts unconvinced.

"Who else but Kobayashi would have known you met here, Tohru?"

She pauses, "You saw her?" she pulls me closer to her, "How did you see her, Shiro?"

"Some sort of vision. Ever since your fight with Elma, I've been seeing visions of her," I explain.

"Kobayashi," Tohru closes her eyes whispering, "So you're still watching over us."

"She doesn't want to see you make a mistake that you'll regret forever," I add.

Tohru turns around to look at the mountains, "I don't want to leave."

Kotori holds Tohru's hand, "Mom. Whatever happens I'll take care of the home for you. We will miss you though. If you choose to stay please come back home. I'm not good at being a maid like you, so…"

When she finishes her sentence, Kotori lets go of Tohru.

"It's time I made my decision," Tohru flies above us.

Tohru pulls out a black cape, "This is a memento from my father. I wore this a long time ago when I was a violent, lonely dragon."

The cape waves like a flag in the wind. Tohru grabs it with both hands and spins, "Hyah!"

She tosses it into the distance, "In the past, I ran away and hid things from the people I cared about. I was weak and was afraid that I would get people I love hurt. Never again. I'll get stronger. I'll make my own decisions. Starting now, I choose whatever makes me happy. That means I stay with Kotori and Mr. Kobayashi's dear son. Father, if you're hearing me, you don't scare me!"

She lands next to the two of us and wraps her arms around the two of us, caressing us with her fingernails by the chins.

"I'm not a dog," I sigh.

"Right. Sorry. Let's go home," she says to the both of us.

She flies both of us home. We can see our apartment from across the street. I see, Georgie comforting Kanna. Magus is standing beside her, too. Magus isn't a person who hangs out with people. Something must have come up. I run over to them.

Magus nods in my direction then focuses his attention back to Kanna, "I'll find her. I promise."

Kanna shakes her head, "That's not necessary."

"But I caused problems for everyone. I have to make up for it," he insists.

Kanna and Georgie exchange glances then say, "We already forgive you."

"B-But-"

Lucoa rests her chest on his head.

He breaks free of her grip, "Stop, mom. That's embarrassing."

"Everyone forgives you. The problem is you haven't forgiven yourself."

A spark in Magus' mind is ignited. He punches himself in the face, "I'm being an idiot."

Shouta stands in front of the apartment balcony, "Can't be helped. You still have a lot to learn. But we're here for you.

Magus is taken back by their kind words, "Thanks…."

Lucoa pets him on the head, "Dinner should be ready soon. Try to cheer up every now and then for your parents okay?"

Magus gets his knees and bows to them, "I will! I promise you by the order of harmony!"

"That's too much!" Lucoa shouts. She shakes her nod but decides not to scold him for it.

Tohru reveals herself to the others. Everyone stops what they're doing and run toward her.

"Oh my is that who I think it is?" Lucoa asks surprised.

"It's me, Tohru," Tohru replies.

Kanna's tail wags happily. Georgie and Shouta bow to her.

"I've changed my mind. This world is beautiful. And…"

"Annd?" I coax her to continue.

Tohru raises her voice, "AND I decided to stay."

My phone rings. I pull it out and look at the calendar, "Oh it's almost Christmas.

Tohru seizes both my hand and Kotori's, "Let's go buy gifts then."

She runs off with the both of us being dragged with her.  
"You're too damn fast! Hold up!"

 **Preview: The portal is going to open. While we prepare for the fight with Tohru's father, I realize there are unresolved issues that my father and friends face. We don't have much time so it's up to me to help them with whatever burden is on their chest!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Countdown to the last battle (with Tohru's dad that is!)**

 **AN: It has been a wonderful ride of highs and lows for me. I'm happy so many people are reading my fanfiction. Once I finish the story, I will look over everyone's feedback and make improvements so that people in the future will be able to find and enjoy my story months after I finished it**

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

"Who is it this time?" I drop my controller on the table and open the door. Elma and a few harmony dragons are waiting for me. She taps her foot on the floor impatiently watching the clouds. She turns around and sees I opened the door.

"Mr. Kobayashi," she bows.

"Hey, Elma. What is it you need?"

She points at the clouds. They're dark as the night.

 _Ptoom._ Lightning roars in the distance.

"The portal is about to open. I predict we have 7 days," she extends her hand for me to hold,

"Tohru plans to leave, right? We should say goodbye to her once it opens. You all have a right to say goodbye before we close it."

Tohru steps into the light of the hallway leading to the front door. She's wearing her maid outfit, "Actually, Elma…I've changed my mind. I plan to stay."

Elma is shocked. Her jaw drops open. She notices she just lost her calm composure and reforms herself by standing upright, "Are you sure? It will be a difficult fight."

Tohru gives Elma a hug. Elma shakes wildly, "E-Eh? What is this for?"

"You're my friend, Elma. I can't leave you in the human world alone."

Flustered, Elma wails her arms, "Arrggh, I can't leave you either!"

"That's right, Elma! Besides, there's a way we can fight the emperor. Do you remember what happened to Shiro?"

She nods, "Yes. We barely stopped him."

"It's more than just that. Our magic mixed. Now he can see visions of his mother."

"Oooh," Elma gasps. She walks in circles around me, poking at my shoulder.

"Elma," Cremene wiggles his index finger.

"Cremene. Why are you here?" Elma steps away from Tohru.

He speaks to her in the most condescending tone I have ever heard, "Did you forget that we voted to close the portal?"

"Yes. We will close it. That's all," Elma replies.

He laughs, "It's not that simple. The Emperor came here for Tohru. He is already desperate. Tohru has to leave if we want to maintain the balance between dragon and human here."

Elma nods, "Tohru has to leave if the humans must be safe."

"That's right. We have to think about the humans," he says in a very calm and relaxed tone.

"Elma. Don't listen to this creep. None of my chaos dragons hurt anyone. These people will only lead you down a dark path."

"Elma. Would have been lead down a "dark" path if she continued to listen to your lies," Cremene hisses, " She lost her focus until I found her. Humans and dragons are better off if they live apart. Not together."

Elma indecisively looks back and forth between Cremene and Tohru.

"You got along with humans before. Balance didn't go haywire when you worked with Kobayashi? Remember?"

"At what happened when the emperor of demise returned, Elma? Where is Kobayashi now, Elma? What did your decision to be with Kobayashi lead her?"

Elma mutters, "My decision to be around Kobayashi…it led to her death."

"And what did you do?" he continues.

"I passed laws to keep humans and dragons separate. I banned marriage between them.."

"Why?"

Tohru lunges for Cremene. I grab a hold of her, "Tohru! You can't attack him!"

She groans and wrestles out of my grip, "He's manipulating her."

"Stop!" Elma shouts. She glares at Tohru, "Dragons outlive humans. Love isn't possible between them. They'll only die. I _passed_ those laws so no one else would suffer. Tohru, you have 7 days to reconsider your decision. As for Shiro, I hope he and Magus wise up and leave their dragon family members and find humans to take care of them."

Elma storms off furious with a face like lightning.

"Wait," Cremene caught up to her, "Shouldn't we punish them right now?"

"There's no need. We have to fix the crystals we used to close the portal. This time, they need to be able to close the portal for good."

Elma, Cremene and their guards vanish.

Tohru punches the floor.

 _Crack._

A crater appears in area she punched, "Damnit!"

"There's nothing we can do for her. We're going to have to fight on our own. We have 7 days."

She nods, "Every morning we'll train. After that…you should spend that time with everyone. To keep them cheerful. This could be our last battle after all," Tohru finishes.

I write down a huge list of things to do with others. I can't waste a single minute then.

 **Day 1**

I went to see my dad. He provided training for me at his company. I can see a dozen people in the room typing away.

"This is the same room your mother worked in. We'll start with the basics."

I made a few mistakes. The work was pretty fast-paced but it wasn't any more demanding than most salary-men jobs. Once the work was done, my dad gave me a pat on the back.

I walk home that night. That's when I see Kanna and Saikawa standing together in front of a store. I run up to them to see what's going on.

"These clothes look pretty," Saikawa points to an outfit.

Kanna nods, "It would look good on you."

"Wait…hah….," I catch my breath, "Saikawa. You're back!"

She nods, "I saw Georgie working in a maid café."

"How? Where have you been this whole time?"

She puts her palm on her forehead, "I started looking for places to stay. A nice elderly couple let me stay at their place. I then worked a bit as a maid. That's how I found Georgie."

Kanna gets closer to Saikawa, "So…do you forgive me?"

"I can't forgive you," Saikawa says.

Kanna looks devastated…that was until Saikawa continued.

"I can't forgive you…because it was never your fault. All that time alone made me realize how horrible it is to be alone. Leaving solved nothing. I promise I won't do that again, Kanna."

"I'm grateful," Kanna says and scoots closer until their shoulders bump. She waves her hand to say, "Shoo, go away."

"Geez, fine," I walk home. I wave goodbye to Kanna, "Seeya later."

 **Day 2**

Magus invited me to eat today. The first I did was head over to his place. Shouta and Magus sit together while Lucoa prepares dinner.

Lucoa bows, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Kobayashi!"

She goes back to preparing food.

I notice Magus and Shouta are reading a book together.

"How does this spell work?" he asks.

"It's like an enchantment," Shouta replies. He notices me, "In fact, I think Shiro can explain," he waves for me to come over.

I channel my magic into my body and release it on a paper crane that was placed on the table.

 _Poof_

It turned into an actual bird.

 _Fwoop Fwoop_

It flew out the window. Magus attempts the spell on another paper crane. He was partially successfully.

The small bird pecks on the table. Its wing is broken and it can barely move.

"I'll take care of it," Magus holds the bird close to his chest.

"You did a good job, son," Shouta casts a healing spell on it.

"It could have gone better. But yeah…It was okay, I guess."

Lucoa puts plates on the table. They're full of corn sprinkled with lime, pepper, and cheese.

"What kind of food is this?" I ask.

"It's a street-recipe I learned in a foreign country. I can't remember the name. It started with an A."

"America?" I answer.

She nods, "Oh yes, yes. That was the place. I have trouble with names sometimes. The map of this world has changed so many times it's hard to keep track."

I can imagine. A dragon like her probably lived for so long most of history just flew over her head. Not literally of course.

Magus chews and swallows everything rather quickly. He clears his throat.

"I heard Elma came. Did she arrest you?"

I shake my head, "No. She did say we should probably leave our family."

"I'd love to follow that order. In fact, I would have left willingly in the past. Now I'm not so sure."

I think about Elma's indecisiveness. Cremene had to convince her to follow her own laws and arrest us. That makes me curious. Are "Elma's laws" _really_ Elma's laws? Or did that man force those rules on her and made her enforce them?

 **Day 4**

Kotori and Tohru finish cleaning up the apartment room. Everything is spotless.

"Good job, Kotori. I know a friend from the mall who would love to have you help around his house."

I walk into the hallway. Tohru waves to me, "Shiro! Kotori is about to work professionally as a maid for the first time. Would you like to come with us to support her?"

I nod. There's nothing else to do anyway. We walk to the mall. It's outdoors with four intersecting alleyways. There's a glass ceiling at the top. I can see the storm hasn't calmed down. The clouds are still pitch-black.

The vendors are whispering nervously, "It's Tohru and her daughter. Those two look weird."

Tohru hears them but she doesn't say anything. She finds the man she is looking for. A middle-aged butcher working at a deli.

"Oh, Tohru. It's good to see you. So this must be your daughter," he waves to Kotori, "I need someone to clean my house every weekend. I've been busy with the store that I forgot to clean my home. Are you sure your daughter is willing to work for me?"

Tohru nods. She nudges Kotori. Kotori bows, "Thank you!"

Two men approach the butcher, "Oy. Are you talking to her again?"

The butcher nervously replies, "Well, they're nice and help every now and then."

One of them speaks to the other, "What should we do?"

The other glares at Tohru. Tohru glares back. Her eye flashes red and she growls. The two men jump back in fear.

"Fine. Fine. We'll leave."

As they walk past us, one whispers, "Cause a scene and Elma will come for you."

The other vendors whisper to each other.

"She almost hurt those poor boys."

"It was only in self-defense. I would have done the same."

Tohru makes a depressed frown. Ashamed by how she acted, she leaves.

"Please come back again, Tohru!" the butcher shouts.

Kotori bows to him, "I'm sorry. We'll come back later."

"I hope Tohru will be okay. It's not her fault. And she is friendly after all."

"True," I concur, "It can't be helped."

 **Day 6**

It's almost midnight. Everyone is gathered in our apartment room. This is Christmas night. All the gifts are underneath the Christmas tree.

"Are we going to open them now?" Kanna asks, pacing back and forth.

"Of course!" Tohru hands out gifts for each of us.

Fafnir is holding up a new headset, " I don't need this. I can hear a pin drop from a mile away…However Takiya might," he hands the gift to Takiya.

"Hahha…Thanks Fafnir," he starts tearing through the paper wrap, "More for me!"

When he opens the present he finds a large amount of doujinshi, "Whoaaa. This is from Comicket. How'd you get this, Tohru?"

"Help from friends," she makes eye-contact with me and Kotori, "And family."

I look away, embarrassed that I was put on the spot, "It's nothing."

"Y-yeah. We were just trying to keep the Christmas spirit alive and stuff…," she fiddles with her fingers.

Lucoa smacks Kotori's back playfully. She nearly loses her footing from Lucoa's blow, "No need to be modest. Be proud!" she opens her gift and finds a swimsuit inside it, "ohhh, I should try this on!"

Magus runs in front of her and grabs the swimsuit, "No, not here, mom. You're embarrassing us!"

Shouta sighs, "Lucoa never changes."

"Hah…That's why you like her so much, right?" Tohru asks.

He nods, "Exactly why I like her."

Kanna and Saikawa rip open their boxes. They find matching necklaces. The piece of jewelry attached to their necklaces is the shape of a dragon.

"Thank you, Lady Tohru. For as long as we are together, we will cherish it, " Kanna waits for Saikawa's response.

"It's pretty…I'll cherish it forever for Kanna."

Shouta and Magus open their box and see a wide variety of magic spell-books.

"We should practice these spells immediately," Shouta flips through the pages.

"Indeed," Magus nods. He leans over his father's shoulders and they read through it together.

The only people left who haven't opened their boxes are Tohru, Kotori, and me.

"This present I'm about to give you I kept a secret from both of you. It's something I kept for a long time. It means a lot to me. That's why I think you should have it," Tohru hands the box to me.

I untie the bow on top and open the lid. Confetti fills up the inside. I dig my hand through It. My fingers touch something. It's solid and has bumps. When I pull it out, I see two rings with engravings on them.

The engravings for two rings read,

"Kobayashi – Tohru"

It's their engagement ring. They were that close? I had a hunch their relationship was that serious. But I didn't think it would be _that_ close.

"When this is over, and you want to marry, use these rings. It's a gift. So you can remember what family you came from."

I'm speechless. Kotori tries to speak first, but it's just random mumbling.

"Hahha…It looks like you're not disappointed."

 _Ding Dong_

The clock strikes 12. It's the 7th and final day. The chatter and laughter among family and friends dies down. We can hear a knock on the door. It could only be one person. Elma.

I walk to the front and swing the door open.

"It's time," Elma says.

She's with Cremene. I don't see anyone else nearby. She leads us downstairs into the middle of the street. Since it's late, no one is driving.

"Tohru. Have you decided what you will do?"

Tohru nods, "I'm staying."

"Are you sure? If you stay you will have to defeat him on your own," Elma continues. I swear I could hear a shred of uneasiness in her voice. A drop of hesitation.

"I won't be fighting alone. I'm relying on everyone I know to help me defeat him."

Cremene whispers in Elma's ear.

"I would like to speak with your son, Shiro," Elma holds up her trident.

"Shiro can speak with whoever he wants," she smiles.

I walk with Elma further away from the others so they can't hear me. When she is sure that they can't hear us, she speaks,

"Your mother confronted the Emperor of Demise. She couldn't defeat him. You won't be able to defeat him, either. Please, convince her to leave with her father…before people die."

"We can defeat him. We need a different plan, different tactics. That's all."

She points her trident straight at my chest, "You can't kill him."

"That's not part of my plan. No, I plan to persuade him."

"What?" she raises her eyebrow as if I were crazy and spouting nonsense.

"If the Emperor of Demise is really Tohru's father then he was the one who molded Tohru into who she is now. That means…He fights so dragons can do as they please. Tohru has to fight back and show she's not weak. That should be enough to convince him to leave this world alone."

Elma pushes the trident deeper. I can feel the sharp tips prick my body, "And what about the humans? The ones that will be caught between us and the Emperor?"

"We only need the others to protect the city while Tohru fights the Emperor," I explain, "Elma. You created powerful barriers to imprison people. Couldn't you use them to protect the entire city?"

Elma processes everything I said. She gently lowers her weapon, "I can create a barrier, but it will take time. Your friends need to be at multiple parts of the city at once," her stomach rumbles,

"We can discuss the details at your home. Over sweet, delicious pastry…mmm…"

Cremene grabs Elma, "Are you a fool?! You're just going to let them free? What about the balance?"

Elma grabs his arm and shoves him aside, "Tohru's intentions are pure. If the balance was in jeopardy, Tohru would be burning cities down. She hasn't. She's kept to herself. The true threat to balance in this world is her father."

Cremene shows his razor-sharp teeth. Horns come out of his skull.

He pointed at us, "You! You're corrupting her. According to Elma's laws the penalty is death-

Elma swings her trident at him, she hits him directly. He falls over.

"I don't kill people or dragons. That wasn't written in the law."

Cremene's eyes open wide, "Forgive me. That was a mistake."

Elma holds his body up with one hand, "You should know that isn't part of my laws. You _wrote_ them for me."

Elma claps her hands. Two portals appear. Harmony dragons in armor step out and encircle Cremene.

"Arrest him. He's guilty of treason," she orders. They drag Cremene into the portal.

"You can't do this! Elma is the traitor! Not me!"

The portal close when he gets dragged to the other side. His screaming fades away and there is silence.

Elma shakes her head, "He helped my comrades flee into the human world."

"We don't need him anymore," I reassure her.

"Let's go back to Tohru, then."

We meet up with the others. The storm is getting worse. The winds are howling violently. Tress sway back and forth like a rocking chair.

 _Ptoom_

We see a flash of lightning. The center of the clouds swirl like a vortex. A black whole opens up in the clouds.

"Looks like I won't be having sweets tonight…," she turns to me.

"Do you have a plan?" Elma asks.

"We need you to set up the barrier," I explain. I turn around to face everyone present, "Elma needs your help. Make sure everyone protects each other. When the shield is up, it's up to Tohru to fly into the portal and face her father.

"One problem…," Elma interrupts, "The harmony dragons will try to close the portal."

"Shit," I swear. I pace back and forth, "Elma, can you tell them to stop?"

"I…I ordered them to seal the portal when it opens up. But I think I can order them to stop."

She hands out paper maps to each and every one of us, "here are the places you need to go to. Hold your ground until I can convince my comrades to stop sealing the portal. Then I'll come back and help each of you set up the barrier," she waves for me to follow her.

Elma floats in the air. Kotori turns into a dragon, "You'll need a ride. Should I fly slow?"

"No. Fly fast this time," I jump on Kotori's back.

"But-"

"I don't care if you're too damn fast. Time is of the essence!"

 _Roooar_

The hairs on the back of my shoulder stand up, "Is that…"

"My father," Tohru replies.


	18. Chapter 18

The Battle for Tohru's Destiny

The wind presses against my face. We're gliding past the city rooftop. I see a circle of dragons standing together in a circle. Good. They haven't started the spell yet. Elma body slams into a dragon.

"Sorry!" Kotori lands on top of two. The remaining dragons ready their claws. A group of knights surround us. Elma stands up, "Ugh," she wipes off the dirt on her clothes. When they see her, they lower their swords and bow to Elma.

"Call off the sealing!" Elma orders.

"But…The Emperor of Demise…"

"I have a different plan," she hands them maps, "Hurry to these locations. We're going to cast a barrier."

She looks at the human knights, "Don't just stand there! Run! Please."

They run after the dragon mages. Elma jumps into the sky and dashes north.

"I guess that means we check the south of the city."

Kotori flies me to Kanna and Lucoa. I look above me and see a horde of dragons flying around in circles above the city.

"They can see the dragons, can they?"

Kotori nods, "This is going to open a can of worms..."

"I have no doubt it will."

A squad of black dragons dive toward us. A hyper-beam knocks them out of the sky. They crash to the earth.

Lucoa absorbs the energy around her. I run over to her with my sword in hand. Some small raptors jump from the alleys to block my way. I charge my sword blue and run forward. I swing wildly at them. They jump back.

 _THUMP_

Kanna crushes them with her feet.

Lucoa spits out a rainbow. It spreads into the shape of a bubble shield.

"We're safe, Shiro," Kanna changes back into her human form. Saikawa and Georgie run out of cover, "We're safe everyone!" Saikawa shouts. A group of bystanders peak out of their homes.

Shit. Everyone is going to know dragons exist now. It can't be helped.

Kotori changes into human form and runs down the street. Our feet tap against the asphalt.

"The mall is too small for me to fit through," Kotori halts in front of the mall.

A few knights ready their swords. Raptors similar to the one we saw from before jump at them.

"It's those punks," I sigh. I ready my sword.

"Shouldn't we just leave them? They did bully me in school."

"Then we would get in trouble with Elma," I charge at the raptors.

 _Clang Clang Clang Clang_

They furiously deflect my blows with their claws.

Kotori rubs her hands together really quickly. Her hands act as a conductor, creating a lethal amount of electricity and hear. When she is finished she tosses a ball of electricity at me.

"Shiro! Catch!"

I focus with my magic. I hope this works… I pirouette around and hit it like this was a game of baseball.

The ball of magma smacks into the floor and explodes.

 _Ptoom_

The drakes fly into the air. The knights give me a high-five.

"You're cool. When this is over, you want to hang out?"

" _If_ this is over. If it's over, I'd love to," I look around me.

Kotori stands in the center of the mall and meditates. A second bubble shield covers. A random firebolt hits the shield.

 _Pzzt_

Sparks fly everywhere.

"We're building a shield over the city. Make sure you protect her!"

The knights crack their knuckles, "Gotcha."

Now I'm on my own. I don't recognize where I am. I pull out my drone and plug in the directions to the next shield location. It flies toward the location while I run behind it.

I sprint down a hill and stop at the school. Fafnir is sitting on a bench.

"Why aren't you doing anything, Fafnir?"

Three squads of black dragons float above us, "A comrade! Why do you side with the humans? The ones who seduced Lady Tohru?"

Fafnir cracks his knuckles, "She wasn't seduced," he corrects them, giving their commander a high kick in the face. The chaos dragons are enraged. They fly in circles rapidly to confuse him. He closes his eyes and reaches out randomly. His hand gets a hold of a dragon. Fafnir body slams it into the floor. He rapidly punches another in the gut from numerous angles. It's like watching a kung-fu movie. He elegantly dances around his enemies. A dragon manages to get close enough and swings at him.

It cuts up his expensive suit. He gives the offender a death glare.

 _BOOOM_

There's a wall of smoke of fire and a mushroom cloud hovering over the school. The dragons lie in craters scattered throughout the block. Fafnir hovers over the school in his dragon form. He clings on to the school and taps the floor. A seal forms around the school. A third bubble shield protects the school and surrounding area.

"That was amazing," I compliment, "How did you learn to fight like that?"

"Anime," he responds.

Now is the time to meet up with Tohru. I run toward the subway. The subway is closed. Damnit. Kotori sits on a bench, "Hey, Shiro."

"Kotori!" I said, surprised to see her here, "What about the shield?"

"Kanna is charging it. How about Elma?"

We force open a door and walk up the stairs to the roof. We can see the northern part of town. Most of the city is under the shield. We can see the dark-blue ceiling touch the sky. However, a part of the city is still out in the open.

 _Vrrrmmmm_

Three shields suddenly appear. That must be Elma.

"Now to meet with Tohru."

"You don't need to remind me," Kotori transforms into a dragon. Everything is going according to plan so far. Phase 1, set up barriers around the city. Phase 2, the others will fight off the Emperor's army. Phase 3, Tohru faces the Emperor.

"Shiro!"

A magic bolt hits Kotori. She steers to the right to dodge two more.

"Dammit, do a barrel roll!"

"…Are you sure?"

I hold on tightly to Kotori's spine, "Do it!"

She spins like a coin. The sky and the ground blur and I feel sick. She makes an emergency landing on a green hill.

"Are you okay?!" she puts her hand on my back.

"Y-Yeah," I regain my footing.

I raise my sword. Something doesn't feel right. Cremene and a group of knights uncloak themselves.

Cremene shakes his head. He draws his sword.

"Why are you here?" I ask, clutching on to my sword.

"Tohru's father is going to return his daughter home one way or the other. You have two options. The first is easy, quick…painless. Return her to her dad. The human world will be at peace, then."

I look at Kotori. Kotori gives me some space.

"And what's option two?"

He swings his sword, "Die."

A knight speaks up, "But, sir. We don't kill. I thought you said you were going to arrest them?"

"Shut up! This is between me and him. Stay out of my way."

He runs at me. I step out of the way at the last moment. He swings at the air.

I stab his back with my blade. He rubs his back and sees blood squirting out.

"Hurargh!" he swings at my arm.

"Argh," I fall back. My shoulder has a deep cut, but it's not fatal.

I take a deep breath and concentrate. Just like Kanna taught me. I can see the magic floating around us. A huge amount of magic is pulsating from its body. It looks like…it's leaking. I hit him again with my sword. Impatient, he starts teleporting all over the place to confuse me.

"Cheater," I anticipate his movements.

"I'm going to end this!"

I swing behind me just as he's about to reappear. He gets hit directly in the face. He covers his face.

"That's it. No more games. I'm ending this!" he changes into his dragon form and breathes fire. Kotori shields me in dragon form.

"Get closer" I tell Kotori.

She pants, "He's strong, but I'll try."

She steps closer to him. I wait for a few seconds. I've never tried this spell before. My heart beats. I absorb as much magic as I can and rush forward. My body teleports through the flames. Toward his chest. I ready the blade. I reappear in front of his chest and stab him. Blood squirts out of his chest. He collapses on the floor with a loud _THUD_.

He lies on the floor in a puddle of blood, "Damnit. Killing is against Elma's laws."

"Funny, you ordered someone to die for disobeying her laws. You even tried to kill me," I jeer, "Y'know what that makes you? That makes you an ordinary criminal.."

I look at the confused group of knights, "Are you going to let this criminal do as he pleases?"

The knights shake their head, "He's a coward and a cheater. You won fair and square."

The knights grab him.

"No! Noo!" he leaves behind a trail of blood while they drag him.

One last knight stops when his left foot is inside the portal. He turns back to us, "Good luck."

After that, he vanished into the portal.

Now is for the moment of truth. Kotori and I find the meeting place Tohru agreed on. This is the place where she said she would confront her father. We find Tohru standing in an empty field.

 _Grrrraww_

We hear a loud growling from far away.

 _THOOMP_

The ground shakes. We see a man in a black cloak. He has a white beard. I can feel the intense hatred in his eyes.

"Tohru. I allowed you to live with that human. But only until she died. Yet you continue to fight me. My patience has run thin. Return home now or I will destroy this world."

"I don't want to, father!"

"Whether you want to or not is irrelevant. Your destiny is to beat the Harmony Dragons and the gods. That is why your family raised you. Only when the war is over can chaos dragons live as masters of our own fate."

"You're wrong," she shakes her head, "We already are masters of our own fate. And right now, my destiny is to stay by my human world family. Even if it means fighting you!"

Elma jumps and lands on both of her feet, "I came just in time…I'm ready to fight," Elma gives me a look.

I ready my sword, "I don't know helpful I'll be."

"We have to try," Tohru says. She turns into her dragon form and stands beside us.

The Emperor's voice boomed throughout the country, "Then we will fight on even footing."

We get warped to the sky. The floor we are standing is glowing. Hundreds of magic circles rotate around us, overlapping into each other.

This it…. The final battle.


	19. Chapter 19

**Demise of an Emperor**

Tohru's father- the emperor of demise extends his arms.

 _Ptoom Ptoom_  
The clouds rally above his head. Lightning flies across all the corners of the city.

 _Fwoop_

There is a loud rumbling noise from the storm. Suddenly portals appear around the city. A stream of blue smoke exits from the portal and wraps around the emperor's skin.

"He's channeling energy from the other world," Tohru says.

I hesitate. His presence causes me to shake my hands. It's like I'm staring at Death right before me.

She notices I'm shaking, "We have to face him, Shiro. I'm not going to run away. I'm not going to let him push me around. Even if he's my father, I have a right to be with you, to be with Kobayashi!"

Her words resonate with me. I muster all the courage in my soul to challenge the Emperor. If I fail, I won't regret it. This is what Kobayashi would want me- no, this is what she would want us to do.

Sparks of ember shaped like cracks appear over his cloak, "I call upon the power of Surtur. Muspelheim."

A volley of fireballs fly in an arc toward us. Elma casts a barrier. As the projectiles slam into her shield, they split into two directions to our left and right.

"T-Tohru," Elma shouts, "I can feel the power coming from the portals. They're fragile. Could you ask your friends to do something about it?"

"Of course,"Tohru shouts down below, "Everyone. Hurry to the portals! Its power is coming from the other world! We need to sever its tie to the other world!"

"I'll destroy all of them, Lady Tohru!" I hear Kanna's voice echo telepathically to us. Kanna flies toward one of the portals. It reflects a volcanic landscape.

"I'm trying to destroy the portal. It's not working!" Kanna says.

I look at the portal. Why isn't it working? I look at the magma rivers flowing from the other side of the portal. Of course!

"The portals are based on different elements of magic. Destroy that portal using water!"

Kanna floats above the portal. She lets out a screech. Stormy clouds wrap around the portal and flood the portal with water.

The portal collapses in on itself.

"The portal is closed, lady Tohru. Please defeat your father. Not just for me, but Saikawa's sake, Georgie, Shiro, Everyone!" Kanna screams.

"Urgh," the emperor clutches his chest.

Kotori stabs him with her sharp claws. He swings wildly at her, but Kotori jumps backwards.

"The battle isn't over, yet. Niffleheim, lord of frost, I summon you."

Another portal appears, its projects a frozen tundra. Hail is spit out of the tundra toward our direction.

 _Fwoop Fwoop Fwoop_

Kotori shields me with her body. The hail is shaped like spears. They pierce her scales and penetrate her flesh. She bears the pain, trying her hardest not to scream in agony.

Lucoa swats away the dark clouds with her wings. The rays of the sun come through. Lucoa absorbs the sun's ray. Her skin glows. She fires a solar beam into the portal.

An explosion goes off in the distance. The hail vanishes.

 _Lick Lick_

Kotori applies dragon saliva to her wounds.

"The Emperor doesn't respect humans. He thinks they're inferior. But I've seen what humans are capable of, the remarkable things they can do when they're motivated. I believe in you, Shiro. I believe in you, Tohru. You can fight him and win! I know it!" Lucoa flaps her wings and descends to the Earth.

Fire latches on to his cloak, he rushes to put it out.

I charge my sword and thrust into his leg.

He rips off his cloak and throws it away. The cape nearly gets in my face, but I sidestep.

The Emperor shows off his thick muscle mass. Veins pulsate from his arms and legs.

"You are only delaying the inevitable, Tohru is going to come back. She is going to kill the humans _and_ the gods."

The world turns pitch black. We look above us and see the sun is being blocked out by the moon. It's an eclipse.

The Emperor disappears under the cover of darkness. He appears behind Kotori and strikes her with his fist. His shadow climbs out from under him. It morphs into a spear. "Huh?" Kotori turns around. That's when he thrusts his spear into her before she can react. Elma grabs Kotori and pulls out of danger, "You're wounded. Go back."

"But-"

"No, buts."

A portal opens. "Good luck, bro!" she jumps into the portal, closing it behind her.

"We need light!"

A swarm of dragons fly toward Lucoa.

"Protect the Emperor!" they shout.

There's a flash of light in the distance.

 _Vrrrrmmm_

 _Pew_

A wall of revolving light tears through the swarm.

"My love!" Lucoa turns around and sees Shouta and Magus helping her.

"We'll protect you," Magus spins his staff around, "Get rid of the eclipse.

A rainbow pierces the clouds. The moon slowly moves out of the way of the sun.

The emperor feels the explosion. Blood is leaking from his chest. Looks like he felt that. He erects a giant stonewall.

He hurls boulders at us from the other side.

 _THUMP_

I jump out of the way a boulder before it crushes me. I breath heavily and wipe the sweat from my forehead, "That was close."

A portal of a badlands with crags and rocky cliffs is on the other side. Fafnir approaches it. He turns into a massive dragon and flies inside the portal.

The wall of stone collapses. It's now nothing but dirt on the floor.

Fafnir flies out of the portal just before it explodes.

"You did it!" I stop, curious, I asked how he closed the portal.

"I'm an Earth Dragon. I merely absorbed most of the magic he was using in the Earth portal," he immediately changes the subject, "Tohru, make this world safe for the humans. I have a game to play with my companions and I also want to be at Comicket when this is over."

I focus on the Emperor, "Hyargh!" I raise my sword.

 _Swish_

 _Swiiish Swish Swish_

Elma pierces the Emperor's skin.

The Emperor breathes heavily. He gets down on all fours and turns into his dragon form.

"That's the last of the portals, Lady Tohru!" Kanna informs through telepathy, "Good luck!"

The Emperor charges at Tohru with his horns facing her. Elma jumps in front of Tohru.

"Hyah!" she lands with a _thud._ I run over to her and shake her body.

She squirms, "I'm fine…but that hit drained my energy…I have to turn back. Sorry."

She teleports out of the battle. It's just me and Tohru now. He swings wildly at me. I side step out of the way.

 _Pzzt Pzzt Pzzt_

"Shit!" I jump out of the way of a lightning bolt in the nick of time.

 _Crack_

My glasses shatter. I can barely see what's in front of me. It's too blur. I'm screwed.

"Amusing. The last human who defied me also had their glasses broken. This will be the last time a human defies the emperor," he swallows his saliva and spits out a flurry of lightning bolts at me.

I charge my sword. My sword deflected a beam from Kanna. Maybe it can do the same against multiple bolts of lightning.

"Get out of the way, Shiro!" she flies towards me, but a second flurry of lightning bolts head her way.

My eyesight is useless now. But I never needed it when detecting magic. I close my eyes and concentrate. I can see it…I can see it….I tell myself. Blurry waves of light come towards me in slow motion. I raise my sword. The first bolt is absorbed. I tilt my sword at angle. The second is deflected toward the Emperor. I deflect in an opposite direction and parry another one. The last one flies at me really quick. Shit! I swing but it hits me from underneath. I feel a shock go throughout my body and collapse.

The remaining lightning bolts hit the Emperor. It strikes at his legs, crippling him.

 _THUMP_

He falls over on his side. Sparks of fire fly everywhere. When the explosion clears. He's on the floor, unable to move. His chest is ripped open.

"You fought valiantly…Tohru. I'm proud of you."

Tohru kneels in front of him, "Father…Are you okay?"

He coughs up blood, "You have proven yourself. You have shown me you can make a good empress. Are you sure you want to stay in the human world?"

Tohru sees blood squirting from his chest, "Father. Don't speak. You're dying," she places her hands on his chest.

A small source of light jumps from her fingertips into his chest. The blood is still coming out of him.

"You can stay…with the human. I believe you can take care of our family and comrades. You're my daughter and I love-"

 _Squish._ A small dragon bursts from his chest.

"Father!" Tohru screams. She holds him with both her hands trembling, "NOOO!"

The small dragon crawls out of him.

"Who are you. What did you do to father?!"

It laughs callously, "Tohru. Don't you know what happens when a dragon's conscious is troubled?"

"What is he talking about, Tohru?"

Tohru's dad disintegrates until only a ball of energy is left. It floats it way to the giant serpent.

The serpent consumes it, "You really should come home, Tohru. If you refuse to then I will make you come home on his behalf."

She shakes her head, "Father told me I can stay. And you killed him for it," Tohru puts her hand on her chest as if she's in pain, "Argh…"

A voice that sounded a lot like Tohru's shouts from nowhere, "You don't fit in the human world. Listen to your father."

Tohru is shaking. A duplicate of Tohru appears behind her, "Your purpose is to war against humanity and anyone who else stands in their way."

Tohru turns around, "Sh-Shiro. Run"

Tohru is being controlled. If I stay she'll kill me. But I'm not going to run from someone I'm fighting to protect.

"Tohru. You don't have to listen to what that clone is saying."

She grabs me by the neck. She has a chokehold over me.

"F-Fight it, Tohru. Ack..Ack…," I gasp for air Tohru tightens her grip on me.

"You bea-bea-t your father. You can beat these things!"

I pray what I said gets through to her. Otherwise. I'm going to die.

Tohru screams, "No!" she lets go of me, "Sh-Shiro I'm-"

I put my hand on her shoulder, "It's fine."

"So, you won't leave to the other world? Fine."

The serpent grows bigger. It stretches across the sky and floats upward to the sun,

"You will have to come back if there's no human world to stay in," it opens its jaw and digs its fangs into the sun.

It gets dark. I look below me. I see massive tidal waves crash into the barrier protecting the city. Intense gusts of winds slice through the trees below. Suddenly I'm shivering. We look on in horror. Helpless.

We can't let it eat the world. We can't give up. We need to do something. Do something. Do something. I clench my fist. "Is it over?"

"No," I hear a familiar voice respond.

That's when I feel a warm set of fingers hold my hand.

"Huh?" I see Kobayashi in front of me. Tohru sees her, too. She runs over to her and tries to hug her, but she falls right through her.

"Oof," she falls on the floor, "Kobayashi…You're…"

Kobayashi nods, "It's me, Tohru," she looks at the serpent eating the sun, "There's still a way to beat it."

"But how, Miss Kobayashi? It's eating the world as we know it!"

"Your father's soul is still inside that dragon. He's accepted your decision to stay. But his soul refuses to compromise. You have to free his soul, Tohru."

"But how, Miss Kobayashi?"

"I'm more than human now. In the afterlife, I have powers. That's how I can talk to Shiro. It's how I could help him get this far. I'll give most of my powers to you so you can attack his soul and release it from that monster. But…" she rubs her eyes, "I'll use up most of my power. I don't know if I can speak with you again, if I could speak with you at all…."

Tohru cries, "I'm so happy to see you again…I want to stay with you, but I understand, Kobayashi. I'll miss you, but if it means saving the world then let's do it."

"Don't be sad, Tohru," she kisses her.

It lasts for a long minute. But it felt like an eternity.

"I know…," Tohru responds.

"Mom…Let's go," I nod.

My mother opens the portal, "On the other side is your father's soul."

I step into the portal. I stop. I turn around and see my mom waving goodbye.

Tears are coming down her cheeks, but she still smiles, "You made me so proud, Shiro. I'm glad to call you my son. Make sure you take care of Tohru for me, okay?!"

"I will, mom! ….," I rub my eyes, "I promise."

We step through the portal to the other side. We are inside the monster's body. Several souls the shape of crystals are aligned together in a circle. "Which one is the Emperor's?"

A spark of energy flows through us. I open my palm. Energy around me is absorbed. It forms into a giant energy ball. This power…It's coming from Kobayashi. I toss it at a random object. It hit a random crystal.

 _Ptoom Hiiiisssss_

"Lady Tohru, I can feel your presence, but I can't see where you are," Kanna's voice says.

"I'm inside the World-Eater. What do we do?"

Elma breathes into our head, "I feel a part of the serpent's power vanish. Whatever you did keep doing it!"

I look around me. There are eight crystals floating around the souls.

Tohru fires at a second crystal, shattering it.

The interior of the serpent shakes. Some mucus rains down on us.

"Ugh. Gross," Tohru wipes the mucus off of her clothes.

"Keep going!" I shoot two more crystals. We let our shots zip toward the crystals. They all shatter.

"Curse you!"A wall of tentacles wrap around the souls.

"That won't protect you!" I cut through the tentacles.

I feel an intense heat. Sweat pours down my forehead, "What's this feeling?"

"Tohru! Shiro!" Elma calls us, "It's almost fully consumed the sun. Hurry!"

I cut through the tentacles with all the strength I can muster. A small hole opens. I see a large soul on the other side through the gap.

"Tohru. It's on the other side of this hole. Fire!"

"I can barely see it," she says.

"Trust me. We can destroy it."

Tohru holds her breath. She takes aim at the small hole. The ground rumbles ferociously.

She shoots straight through the hole, perfectly.

 _Vrrrrmmmmm_

The ground rumbles. The light on the other side of the gets bigger.

"Err…Elma. We did it, but…."

"I know," she responds, "Now!"

She teleports both of us outside. We see the giant serpent's skin fall apart. Chunks of its body are severed from each other as if it was chopped and diced with a butcher knife. The serpent's body parts slam into the barrier and slip harmlessly to the earth.

"We did it," I raise my sword in the air.

"Hahha…Yes. We did."

"Thank you," we hear the voice of Tohru's father say, "I'm sorry I didn't respect your decision to stay much sooner. No matter what happens, I'll still be your father. Goodbye.

His voice fades. Never to be heard again. I had a lot of questions to ask about Tohru's father. It's best if I didn't ask them. (At least not right now.) Besides, I'm getting tired.

"We won," I said before falling over.

"Shiro!" she grabs me.

 **Two months later.**

I flip through a book on Norse Mythology. It's been a long time since that last battle. Lately I've been studying numerous books to find answers. Elma walks into the classroom. My eyes open wide and I'm at the edge of my seat. She writes down information for us on the wall, "Welcome class. Your teacher is sick today, so I will be your substitute, my name is Ms. Jouii."

When class is over, I don't see Kotori waiting for me at the gate like usual. That's right. I almost forgot that the portal to the other world was left open. Ever since she found out about her parents she would go exploring in the other world the day before every weekend. I hope she finds them. She deserves to see her old family. I shrug and walk home by myself. Magus waves to me. He's sitting with some dragon girls. They kneel in front of Magus.

"Which dragons are the cutest?"

"Chaos!" the other dragon shouts.

"No way. Harmony!"

Magus wraps his arms around the two, "I think you're both cute."

They blush and cuddle with him after hearing his suave answer.

I smile and wave as I pass him. I'm glad they can date a human like him. He's a decent guy. Before, these girls would be hiding from humans…. Now they can talk and go out in the open. They nod as they pass me. The knights are now much friendlier than before. Elma told them to protect both human and dragons at all cost. Occasionally there are some incidents, but whenever they happen either the knights resolve it peacefully or Elma sends me to solve the problem. Tohru is now Empress of the Chaos faction. She helps Elma from time to time. Luckily, a lot of humans have come forward to help us maintain a peaceful co-existence between humans and dragons. That doesn't mean everyone lives happily ever after. How could it be? A lot of humans are surprised to know dragons exist. Some are even afraid. Some troublemakers attack dragons sometimes. It's not all that bad, for every troublemaker there is a decent knight/dragon/mage who will be there to keep the peace.

I stand in front of Kobayashi's grave. I'm glad she got to see Kobayashi again. I let out a deep sigh. I feel my heart ache. It aches because I know that one day… I'm going to die, too. I manage to smile for mom. One day, in the future, my son will be raised by Tohru, too. I think about the times I spent with Kobayashi in the afterlife. I wonder how Tohru and my family will get along? I shake my head. Whatever happens, it'll be okay.

"Thank you for everything, mom," I give her a card and some chocolate before leaving.

Kanna and Saikawa walk past me. They laugh when they see me. This must be their tenth date. I'm happy for them. They finally forgave each other and put the past behind them.

Tohru has been getting busier and busier lately. Ever since her father made her the new empress of the Chaos dragons. I wonder if she may have to leave soon? I pray she doesn't.

"I'm home," I open the door. The living room is empty. The TV and couch are gone. My heart beats. Oh no. I run into Tohru's room. It's empty again. "Kotori?" I call. No one responds. I check the bathroom. Nothing. I run out to the front of the apartment.

Shouta and Lucoa are standing together at the balcony. They see me and notice I'm distraught, "Shiro…About Tohru."

"She's… She's gone again," I lie down on the floor.

"Who's gone?" Tohru's voice asks.

Huh? I turn around and see Tohru and Kotori holding some bags.

"Tohru. I thought you left me."

"Leave you? Shiro. We're only moving into a new apartment."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on. We should be going then," Tohru and Lucoa wave for me to follow.

The new apartment is in a busier part of town. It's on the top floor. There's a balcony with a wide range of flows and herbs. The living room is huger than our old apartment living room. There is a glass ceiling above us. The rays shine down on me.

"Do you like it?" Tohru asks.

I nod.

"Good. It's for your birthday, Shiro."

"B-Birthday?" I stutter.

"Did you forget? Today is your birthday," Tohru and Kotori open the bags they were holding. I look inside each of them stunned by what they give me. It's a brand-new computer.

"You're going to be a grown up soon, like your mother. Unlike Kobayashi, you'll be able to work at home now."

The others jump out of the bedroom, "Happy birthday!"

Everyone is there: Kanna, Elma, Shouta, Lucoa, Magus, Elma, Saikawa, Georgie, Fafnir, and my dad.

They all converse with each other while we wait for Tohru to cut the cake. She slices into it with her claws. A small trace of powder is on her fingertip. She puts in her mouth and licks, "This is good. Enjoy!"

After we all finished eating, Tohru pulls out a camera.

"Family picture! Everyone get together!" Tohru crams everyone close together. She puts a camera on a tripod and sets the timer for ten seconds.

She runs toward us, "3…2…Whoa!" she trips.

 _Click_


End file.
